March 2008
The Archives
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03.19.08$45-Million Home on the MarketJames Simons, a Realtor with Jenny Pruitt & Associates' Buckhead office, is handling the sale of La Reve, a 90-acre estate near Cumming. The home, listed for forty-five million dollars, sits on 90 acres of land, features 82 rooms, a 12-car garage and an 18-hole private golf course. The listing is the most expensive ever in Georgia.
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03.19.08Live-work Units Increasingly PopularLive-work spaces, seen in such developments as Studioplex and MidCity Lofts, are growing in popularity throughout Atlanta. Mixing professional and personal lives is appealing for a number of professionals: there is only one mortgage to carry, and in a city where hour-long commutes are commonplace, the short trip to the office in a live-work unit is certainly easy.
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03.19.08Crime Typically Following ForeclosuresIn Westview, located in southwest Atlanta, there are eighty-five bungalows on West and East Ontario Avenues. Twenty-two are vacant, the result of mortgage fraud and foreclosure. Crimes such as vandalism, prostitution, and burglary are on the rise. It’s part of an increasing problem seen in many neighborhoods as increasing number of homes fall into foreclosure.
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03.13.08Tax rebate for home buyers?U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, a longtime Realtor in the Atlanta Area, has a plan to help the slumping real estate market: a hefty tax rebate to anyone who agrees to buy a home. Calling the current downturn in housing “a significant event,” the Senator is proposing that every new homebuyer receive a $15,000.00 tax rebate check.
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03.10.08Realtor Membership Down As Housing Slump ContinuesThe decline in the housing market is affecting the number of Realtors in Atlanta, and the membership of the Atlanta Board of Realtors is down 8% from last year. The Metro South Association of Realtors has also seen its membership drop from 2,500 to around 1,900. Across the country, the National Association of Realtors is reporting that their membership has dropped 5% from February 2007.
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03.05.08School Problems Cost ClaytonAccording to realtors, Clayton County homes have lost on average $54,000.00 in equity as a result of the difficulties facing the county’s school system. The county, which is already suffering from some of the highest rates of foreclosure and mortgage fraud in the state, is looking at a loss of its schools’ accreditation. The amount of overall lost equity attributed to the ongoing problems with the schools is estimated to be close to 4 billion dollars.
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03.03.08Beazer Homes May Reduce ActivityAtlanta-based homebuilder Beazer Homes, facing increased pressures from a plummeting housing market, federal investigations into its mortgage lending practices, and a number of lawsuits, may further reduce business operations. Beazer CEO, Ian McCarthy, speaking at the Wachovia Homebuilding and Building Products Conference noted that 2008 is going to be a tough market, and that “these are difficult days” for the company.
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03.02.08Cousins to Eliminate 18Feeling pressure from the continuing real estate downturn, Atlanta-based real estate developer is cutting 18 jobs. The company, responsible for Atlanta landmarks 191 Peachtree Tower, the Bank of America Plaza and the new Terminus project in Buckhead, says most of the layoffs will affect its Atlanta operations. Two jobs will also be lost in Austin, Texas.