Atlanta foreclosed homes for sale are still pulling down values, based on data from consumer advocacy group Georgia Watch, which has been lobbying for responsible mortgage lending.
According to Georgia Watch, total property values in Georgia will fall by $13 billion over the next couple of years as nearly three million foreclosures will continue to put downward pressures on residential prices.
Last year, according to the Georgia Watch report, a total of 1.8 million homes across Georgia will plunge in value by $1,920 on the average and another one million houses will lose $4,657 on the average by 2012.
Danny Orrock, deputy director of Georgia Watch, said that the sharp drops in home values have already been affecting families and neighborhoods across the state as more owners endure negative equity.
In a November foreclosure report from a California real estate tracking firm, Georgia had nearly 10,000 of its residential units put into the foreclosure process, with more than 3,000 units already repossessed by lenders. It is also among states with the highest foreclosures rates, ranking 12th in a chart of the most foreclosure-clobbered states.
The continued increase in Atlanta foreclosed homes for sale also resulted from the failure of a record number of banks in metro Atlanta. Last year, Georgia became the focus of most banking news as it posted the highest number of failed banks – 24 banks in all – in addition to five more banks warned by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation during the last days of December to shore up their financial conditions to prevent closure.
To prevent future catastrophe, according to Orrock of Georgia Watch, state lawmakers should immediately enact laws to prevent risky lending. He reiterated that if real estate values plunge further, cities and counties in Georgia would have no other choice but to cut services or increase taxes – options which are both devastating to residents.
Members of the Georgia Association of Realtors however are more optimistic about the housing situation. They contend that homeowners should not bear the consequences of the decline in property values. Dana Bauguss, head of the association, said that local governments can still make viable budgets under the situation using other resources.
Meanwhile, to help cut down the number of Fannie Mae foreclosures in Atlanta and in other cities, Fannie has decided to eliminate its sales policy of first notifying mortgage lenders before accepting purchase offers to facilitate sales.
John Cutts has been educated in the finer points of the foreclosure market over 5 years.
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