City of Decatur Market Statistics: 2007 - 2011

It has been a busy Spring for real estate agents in Decatur, Georgia. The pace of the market over the past several months got me thinking about how the first five months of 2011 stack up to the first five months of the previous four years. And, because I'm a bit of a statistics geek, I pulled a quick report on a variety of data points for the first five months of this year and the previous four years.

Specifically, I took a look at:

• Total number of homes sold for the first five months of each year
• The highest priced home sold in the first five months of each year
• The lowest priced home sold in the first five months of each year
• The average sales price of all homes sold in the first five months of each year
• The average days on market (DOM) in the first five months of each year

(The details of this super high-level research can be found in the graphic associated with this post.)  

As expected, 2009 appeared to be the 'bottom' of our market.  January of 2009 was dismal for sales (I believe there were only three homes sold in all of Decatur in January, 2009) and things didn't recover as the year progressed.   In the first six months of 2009, we saw our transaction volume decline by 68%.  Most agents will look back at 2009 as their worst real estate year on record.  

Thankfully, we rebounded somewhat in 2010, mostly because of the $8,000 Federal Tax Credit provided to most homebuyers.  And, in 2011, when many areas are reporting declines again in transaction volume - the sustained 'hangover' effects - we are still on track with the EXACT SAME sales volume experienced in both 2008 and 2010.  (Yes... I checked my numbers and pulled the reports three times... according to FMLS [the data source for this post] there were exactly 91 homes sold in the first five months of 2008, 2010 and 2011).   I just love consistency and stability in a real estate market!

Terry Michel is a long time Decatur resident and local real estate expert.  For the latest local real estate information, visit her website at www.TerryMichel.com or follow her on Twitter at  www.twitter.com/TerryMichel