In today's Gwinnett Daily Post there was an article describing what once was a booming new construction area as a ghost town for new construction. There has been a definite slowing in new homes being built in the county but I see this as a good sign for a couple of reasons. For one, the amount of inventory is affected in a positive way. According to Ga MLS currently there is 9.6 months supply of inventory on the market in Gwinnett County. This means that if not another house was listed after today it would take 9.6 months to sell the existing inventory. Although new construction provides many jobs in the community and a lot of jobs have been lost due to the decline, this decline is good for the market long term because it helps the inventory levels get back to what is considered normal (6-8 months).
This slow in new construction has also caused a surplus in vacant lots and subdivisions. Everywhere you drive in Gwinnett and surrounding counties for that matter you see paved streets with white PVC pipes sticking out of the ground marking the lots. Most of these empty lots will eventually be sold and the homes will be built but it could be years from now. If you're an investor and can afford to sit on these lots for a while now would be a good time to snag a few of these. Many of them are bank owned which means you could buy them for pennies on the dollar.
Secondly, this slowing will help prevent some of those subdivisions from being built where they probably shouldn't be. In 2004 which was the peak of the boom, Gwinnett County Planning issued 10,463 permits to build new homes. I don't think anyone would disagree that Gwinnett is a large county but that's a lot of new homes in addition to the thousands already built in the previous 2-3 years leading up to that peak. I don't believe any area of the country could support that kind of growth for an extended period and it had to end at some point. Who wants to live with a highway in your backyard or a strip mall in view from your kitchen window??
So all that being said is the economy still bad? Yes. Are there still too many homes on the market? Yes. Is the end of this housing crisis in sight? Maybe but we have to flush the market of the current inventory of foreclosures and short sales to see a definite increase in values. New construction has taken itself out of the game for a while for sure.
Steve Rider REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty Lanier Partners Braselton Ga, selling homes in Winder, Braselton, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Buford, Grayson, Loganville, Monroe and surrounding areas of Barrow, Walton and Gwinnett County Georgia. Go to www.SteveSellsGwinnett.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.
If you're looking for a home in Northeast Georgia contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I have over 5 years experience selling real estate and I'm a life long resident of my coverage area.
Copyright Steve Rider All Rights Reserved Gwinnett is Still Great!
