A quick review of the real estate data for North Fulton County shows that there are currently 2020 single family homes listed on the multiple listing service for this area. In the month of September 211 homes went under contract so there is about a nine and a half month supply of homes currently on the market. Roughly 25% of the homes that went under contract are distressed sales, bank owned foreclosures or short sales.
The impact of distressed sales on residential real estate has been the biggest reason for property value declines over the past few years and it doesn’t look like we have reached the bottom yet.
A recent article in the New York Times explains, “About two million households in the country are in foreclosure, and millions more are on the verge.” Since only four million existing homes are expected to sell in all of 2010 we still have a huge problem. In fact distressed sales were 34 percent of all existing home sales in August according to the National Association of Realtors .
The real estate market will eventually recover but it is hard to believe we have already hit the bottom of the market when more than a third of the homes for sale are selling at discounts and millions more are on the way. Real estate prices won’t rise appreciably until we cull through the excess inventory of distressed properties and that is why I find another recent development so problematic.
The entire foreclosure process in the United States seems to be grinding to a halt. Mortgage lenders and other institutions responsible for getting defaulted homes back on the market are completely overwhelmed.
JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and GMAC are three of the largest mortgage lenders in the United States and they have all stopped foreclosure proceedings because of legal issues raised by their process of dealing with loans in default. The legal issues raised by foreclosures have also led a major title insurance company to stop insuring foreclosed homes and that means borrowers will find it even harder to get mortgages on these properties. Without title insurance the potential buyer of a foreclosed property could be forced to pay cash and there aren’t many buyers out there with that kind of money right now. It has even gotten so bad that the governor of Connecticut has halted all foreclosures in the state. All of these problems are making it difficult for the market to correct itself and slow down the natural healing process.
Despite all of the ominous signs in the foreclosure market, every month you can still find an expert predicting that real estate prices have reached the bottom and sooner or later one of them will be right. Sooner or later the legal wrangling over foreclosures will stop and the homes will be sold. Sooner or later the market bottom will be reached and property values will once again rise. Sooner or later everything will be fine. The problem is that the sooner seems to keep getting later and later.
Hat tip to http://christopherfountain.com/ for bringing the New York Times article to my attention. You can read the entire piece here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/business/economy/03foreclose.html?_r=1&hp
If Bobby Cox gets this motley crew of Atlanta Braves into the playoffs he deserves another Manager of the Year award.
For decades political commentators have believed that there are only two classes of Republicans, the Moderate Republican and the Conservative Republican. This dual classification system seems to have originated in the early 1980’s during the Reagan Revolution and has been the commonly accepted wisdom ever since. While the dual classification has served most political discussions well, a few years ago GA Jim researchers noticed that the behavior of some Republicans in Georgia would no longer permit them to be classified as Moderate or Conservative. The shocking conclusion is that Georgia has become the breeding ground for a new species of political animal commonly known as the Tax and Spend Republican (scientifically as Perduica Spendica).
Throughout Georgia’s history it has been home to a small population of Conservative Republicans along with a few scattered Moderate Republicans. The small bands of moderate and conservative Republicans roamed over Georgia but their differences were irrelevant because they operated in obscurity as Democrats controlled the state. But the state’s political ecosystem experienced a seismic shift early in the new millenium as the the Republican party of Georgia assumed control of the political landscape. The ensuing irrational exuberance brought together the native Moderate and Conservative Republicans and despite their incompatible tendencies the unholy union soon produced a new, hybrid species of political animal. When asses breed with horses the result is a mule. When Moderate Republicans and Conservative Republicans come together the result is a Tax and Spend Republican. Unfortunately, Tax & Spend Republicans are not sterile like mules so the species is spreading through Georgia like Kudzu.
Research of this new species is hampered by the fact that most of their curious behavior occurs in inconvenient, sparsely attended meetings, behind closed doors or over drinks in inaccessible locales. But despite this adversity persistence has finally paid off and you can find a perfect description of Tax & Spend Republican behavior in this article from the Atlanta Journal and Constitution: http://bit.ly/dixKby
As you see in the article the behavior of Georgia’s Governor Sonny Perdue is inexplicable when viewed within the context of the Conservative/Moderate Republican dual classification system. The Governor extended tolls on his constituents when the state explicitly promised that would not occur. Governor Perdue rationalizes his behavior and then tries to hide behind the ridiculous ritual of stopping the toll for a brief moment to make sure the maneuever is legal. Ordinarily any Republican governor that raises taxes on his constituents without their consent would automatically be classified as a Moderate Republican but since the Governor once promoted a prayer vigil to fight Georgia’s drought there is a stark contradiction. Governor Perdue does not fit the old model; he is clearly a shining example of Georgia’s new species, the Tax and Spend Republican.
As with any ecosystem the introduction of a new species threatens the delicate balance which allowed other indigenous species to thrive. In this case the Tax and Spenders are a serious threat to the Republican party of Georgia. These Tax and Spenders are even planning to add another one percent sales tax during the worst economy of our lifetimes. The situation is critical and it is important that Georgia Republicans identify the members of this new species and stop the damage being done to their state and their party. Hopefully it is not too late.
Instapundit.com: Stephen Colbert’s congressional testimony is,”a professional clown among a bunch of amateurs.”
Republican Governor Sonny Perdue and the other “tax and spend” Republican cohorts on the State Roadway and Toll Authority have decided that lying to the citizens of Georgia is appropriate. It really is disheartening.
Years ago the state of Georgia built GA Hwy 400 with bonds and installed a toll booth to pay off the debt obligations. The state also promised taxpayers that when the bonds were paid off the toll booth would be removed. SUCKERS!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is now reporting that we can have our toll money back when we pry it out of SRTA’s cold, dead hands. Not only that, but now that the road debt is paid off the State Road and Tollway Authority wants to double the toll to a dollar! So if you believed the state back when they said they would remove the toll, you might want to put a little ice on that.
But don’t worry, it will all be fine. Roswell Mayor Jere Wood says that it’s all right for the state to lie to his constituents because,”the tollway authority has told local officials that the additional tolls would only be used to pay for more improvements along Ga. 400.” You should go to ajc.com and read the whole thing here: http://bit.ly/dzSewO
So the state lied to the public… but we can believe them now when they tell us how the money will be used? Are you kidding me? I may not be too bright but once someone has lied to me I don’t generally believe them the next time. And that goes double for a government bureaucrat.
Which brings us to the reason this issue is so important. The toll on GA 400 isn’t going to kill anyone. But the lie that was told to the people of Georgia is just another nail in the coffin of the public’s trust. I am tired of being lied to and I’m not alone.
The state is now proposing another 1% sales tax on the residents of Georgia. The state says that it will go for local projects. The state says that it won’t go for MARTA. The state says that we will get another chance to decide if we want to extend the extra sales tax.
Should we believe them? No. We can’t believe them because experience tells us that once the state gets our money they will do with it what they damn well please.
Another concrete jungle project coming to Alpharetta… nothing says great schools and quality of life like high rise condos!
These elected officials are supposed to be conservative?
GA Jim 
