Atlanta Home Prices: Relatively Small Decline

In a recent interview, Princeton economist Paul Krugman spoke with Fortune's Jia Lynn Yang about the economy and the outlook for home prices in which he specifically mentions the Atlanta market. See what he has to say.

How far do you think home prices will fall?

My preferred metric is the ratio of home prices to rental rates. By that measure, average home prices nationally got way too high. We'll probably basically retrace all that. So that's about a 25% decline in overall home prices. Only a fraction of that's happened so far. Of course, it varies a lot. In places like Houston or Atlanta, where home prices have not risen much compared with underlying rents, the decline will be relatively small. In places like Miami or Los Angeles, you could be looking at 40% or 50% declines.

Article: How bad is the mortgage crisis going to get?

Related Post: Buy a home in Atlanta: Make over $40,000 in 4 Years

Atlanta Commercial Real Estate: Location Is Key Ingredient To Fast Food Restaurant Success

Interested in buying, franchising or starting your own fast food restaurant in Atlanta? If so, then you may want to take a page from the success book of Atlanta-based AFC Enterprises Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits restaurants. Below is a tidbit of information that you may want to include in your own secret recipe for fast food restaurant success.

"The ideal Popeye's restaurant is located on a corner lot of at least 25,000 square feet, with traffic light access. The company prefers locations on the 'going home' side of major commuter routes with an average daily traffic count of at least 20,000 and population counts of at least 25,000 within 2 miles, with median income between $30,000 - $85,000."

Source: CoStar's Retail News Roundup: Mar. 16 to 22, 2008

Atlanta Open Houses - Metro Brokers Super Sunday 3/9/08

As a home buyer, there is only one special day of each month when you're given the opportunity to attend Open Houses at over 400 homes throughout metro Atlanta: Metro Brokers Super Sunday. And as a special incentive for attending one of the many Metro Brokers Super Sunday Open Houses, you could enter to win $1,000 cash.

The next Super Sunday will be held on Sunday, March 9th from 2PM-5PM.

For a list of homes open during the March 9th Metro Brokers Super Sunday Open House and for complete rules of entry for the monthly $1000 cash drawing, click the links below.

• Search For Metro Brokers Super Sunday Open Houses
• Super Sunday Promotion Rules

Buying An Older Home in DeKalb County? Old Toilets Will Mean No Water Service

If you plan on buying or selling one of the 165,000+ homes built before 1993 in DeKalb County, please be aware that starting this June buyers will be required to have proof of "low-flow" toilets before the county will hook up water service.

For sellers, having these fixtures already updated before placing your home on the market can be an excellent selling point that makes your home stand out.

To help homeowners meet this new mandate, DeKalb County is offering two rebate options. The first is a $50.00 rebate for the purchase of any approved 1.6 gallons per flush toilet on the list of eligible toilets. The second option is a $100.00 rebate for the purchase of any approved 1.28 gallons per flush toilet on the list of eligible toilets.

For more information on the Toilet Rebate Program and list eligible toilets, click here.

Metro Atlanta: 5 Million Strong In 2007 and Growing

According to the ARC (Atlanta Regional Commission), the "core" 10-county (Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale) Atlanta region is home to 4,029,400 people. This is larger than the population of 24 states. And if you include the 10 core counties in addition to the "external" 10 counties (Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Coweta, Forsyth, Hall, Newton, Paulding, Spalding and Walton), this number increases to 5,077,500.

Highlights from the Atlanta Regional Commission's 2007 Population and Housing Report:

• 71% of all growth since 2000 in the 20-county area occurred within the "core" 10 counties (~600,000 new residents in the "core" 10 versus ~250,000 in the "external" 10)
• 20-county area accounted for almost 70% of Georgia's growth since 2000
• Practically all of the growth in multi-family units occurred in the "core" 10 counties (98.4%)
• Despite recent "citification" trend, the majority of "core" 10-county residents live in unincorporated areas
• Five cities with a 2007 population greater than 10,000 have doubled their population since 2000 - Canton, McDonough, Stockbridge, Villa Rica and Woodstock
• Southern Forsyth is the fastest growing area in the 20 counties.

Source: Atlanta Regional Commission, 2007 Population and Housing Report