Real Estate is on the Rise in Cobb County, GA.

Marietta Daily Journal Recently Interviewed Real Estate Agent Bruce Ailion and asked about the Real Estate Market in Cobb County.

- How have Cobb commercial and residential property values increased or decreased in the last year? Cobb remains a very attractive place to live, and overall both commercial and residential values have risen. How do they compare to this time last year? According to First Multiple Listing Service as if July 2019, average residential prices are up 5.4% to $362,893 and the median price is up 3.6% to $308,250. Year to date, new listings were down 1.7 percent, pending sales even and total sales were down 1.4 percent compared to the same period in 2018. The number of listings and pending sales do not reflect the number of home sellers coming to market to meet the population growth in Cobb County. Homeowners are gaining equity in Cobb County. Why do you think that is? Values are rising both due to a strong economy, strong wage growth, low unemployment and demand pressure on the lower than needed inventory. Over the past three years, the Atlanta metro area added 190,425 jobs and only issued 65,350 building permits.

- Is it a buyer or a seller’s market here in Cobb at the moment? Why? Is that expected to last? Why? Currently, we remain in a Seller’s market in Cobb and metro-wide. The average days on the market year to date comparing 2018 to 2019 rose 2.7 percent from 37 days to 38. A balanced market is 90 days. In the more moderate price points, we see days on the market of under 7 with multiple offers. For the affordable price ranges, we are in a very strong seller’s market. Overall for Cobb the average home is selling at 98.6% of list price, meaning many homes are selling at list price or better. While it is a great time to be a seller, many sellers are also buyers and why not with interest rates in the mid 3% range don’t just make the trade on that old home get rid of that old 4% plus mortgage. This is a great time to lock in historically low-interest rate long term fixed-rate financing.

- What are the key factors influencing real estate prices and values in Cobb at the moment? As I mentioned earlier, Cobb is an attractive place to live. It is known for good schools, low taxes, excellent government services, great suburban amenities a strong and growing job base and low crime. In addition, wages are increasing, and the economy is strong, we are essentially at full employment.

- Do you know the value of commercial property in Cobb in 2018? It was $7.88 billion in 2016 and $8.51 billion in 2017. I will update you later

- What are the hot communities in Cobb for commercial real estate development right now? Anywhere that's seeing a particular boom? New construction is a bright spot in Cobb. Very few homes were built from 2007-2013 in Cobb. New homes are selling as fast as they can be built. The average age of the housing stock in Cobb is growing, and buyers shopping new homes and watching the home shows on HGTCV expect homes to be perfect. Renovation is hot. Most sellers realize their home needs to be dressed for success. I have attached a chart showing the hotness of zip codes as ranked by Realtor.com

- Do you know how many homes were sold in Cobb in July this year? 1,055

- What was the median house price of houses sold in Cobb July 2018 $297,500 July 2019 $308,250

- What was the average house price of houses sold in Cobb July 2018 $344,319 July 2019 $362,983

- What direction is the Cobb real estate market heading in? What do you expect to see over the next 12 months? For the foreseeable future say six months a strong market and low-interest rates should remain in place. We still face challenges from questions about trade and tariffs. There is a concern that worldwide we are seeing an economic slowdown. It appears there may be talk of an additional tax cut, which could stimulate the economy and possible additional reductions in interest rates if a stimulus is necessary. The economy is always subject to an external shock that could push the economy into recession. Taking advantage of low-interest rates now is very good advice. As people buy homes and refinance existing debt at lower interest rates these activities stimulate the economy.