If you turn on the news today and listen to latest on the housing crisis you'll find that in March, Georgia will add another 7300 or so foreclosure/REO properties in the next 90 days.   While the inventory for foreclosures / REO properties increases (there are 214 available today in Lawrenceville), there is a great new trend occurring, that make me believe we'll be coming out of the Atlanta version of the housing "crisis."

The "F" word has enticed many buyers to look into this avenue.  I get requests daily to look at foreclosures.  Corporate, Bank owned, investor owned, REOs all can be filed under the Foreclosure name tag despite it being a bit of a misnomer.  Time will prove this out, but I for one, think that the foreclosure market is about to get interesting. Why?  I think buyer's are good determiners of value, and right not, most forelcosures don't make sense for buyers.

So why am I so chipper about the foreclosure news?  Two Reasons!

• First, there's a new trend occurring with buyers.  Sales are up this year from last as far as inventory and I am finding that buyers are interested in buying foreclosures.  However, either the condition of the home will scare them or the incompetence of the bank/reo company/listing agent will send them to the hills to look for resales.

• The second reason is that builders have gotten smart.  They've stopped building. Centex only has 20 inventory homes in the 13 metro counties that make up Metro Atlanta.  Other builders are following suit.  This decrease in inventory is limiting the choices of todays buyers.
  

In short, buyers have three options, FIXER UPPER with A Lot of Hassle, Resales in good condition (now the top 15% are selling, and inventory homes from builders.

If buyers start to shy away from foreclosures then the trend would be that more resales will sell which is really what the housing market needs.  According to the NAR, 80% of the buyers in today's market have a home to sell! IF the resales start moving then so do the buyers.

Two concerns:

1. The banks wise up, streamline the process and/or improve the homes, in essence stealing the buyers from the "public."
2. Builders start building again even though there is no clear signal to start again.
   

Only time will tell.