Before we get to current updates to the housing market in Atlanta, GA, I would like to remind our investors that overall market economics respond to market maker’s skepticism, paranoia and superstitions. Good, bad or otherwise, it is the truth. First of all, it is an election year for the Presidency. Second, the GSEs and investment banks scandal has not been resolved yet. Next, manufacturing in the United States is terribly low with unemployment ticking up, compared to the start of the year. And our beloved government, who created this problem, is passing a new bill that will allocate hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money to procure bad loans. This action will save large firms, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and increase the national debt for all Americans. (Which is sad, since we are artificially inflating markets instead of letting them do what they are supposed to do: Correct Themselves!)
Could this be the bottom we are waiting for? Or is this the beginning of worthless American dollars, ridiculous inflation and terribly cheap housing? We do not know. However, if we follow what the ultra-successful are doing, we see it is time for action. (Check out what Warren Buffet is doing. Also, look at the deals that Donald Trump is crafting now during this “housing slump”.)
Now back to our story in Atlanta:
ATLANTA – More than $153 million in newly earmarked federal funds will extend a lifeline to Georgia regions hit hardest by the home foreclosure crisis, enabling leaders from Atlanta to Savannah to acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties at risk of being abandoned.
Housing and Urban Development’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program will distribute $3.92 billion to all states and especially regions struggling to surmount high foreclosure rates.
The money was included in the federal Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which was signed into law in July. HUD plans a national housing summit Oct. 7-8 in Washington, D.C., as well as regional conferences to explain the program to state and local leaders.
The new program enables state and local governments to acquire land and property; demolish or rehabilitate abandoned properties; and to offer downpayment and closing cost assistance to low- and moderate-income homebuyers. The statewide foreclosure rate is estimated at 5.2 percent, high, according to HUD, which estimates the national foreclosure rate at 4.8 percent.
Georgia was among the Top 10 in the nation for foreclosures through August, according to RealityTrac, a California-based online marketplace for home foreclosures. Throughout the Atlanta region, the sting of the housing market crunch is apparent both in abandoned homes and homes remaining on the market longer than usual.
“I’m seeing very much of a slowdown in my resale inventory and my foreclosure inventory,” said Lin Sadler-Perry, a Gwinnett County real estate agent affiliated with Century 21. “Our showing numbers in the past three weeks are down at least 50 percent compared to what they were, say, six months ago.” HUD estimates Gwinnett County’s local foreclosure rate at 4.6 percent. Regional leaders have until Dec. 1 to present spending plans to HUD. Grant funds must be used within 18 months.
|
|
|
