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Monday, March 24, 2008
Is Sandy Springs still a ‘hot’ property?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When this blog started a few years ago one of the things we were seeing around our little town was the introduction of the McMansion phenomena — older homes razed and replaced by bigger/newer/fancier. The lot had more value than the old home built on it.
Some worried Sandy Springs might get too pricey, fretting that the character of the community would be changed. If prices went too high young families wouldn’t be able to move in. Then fate intervened.
Thanks to the mess caused by instability in the mortgage business and some other factors, like the price of gas continuing to rise, the face of Sandy Springs has not seen that radical change. At least not yet.
Our home was built in the late ‘50s, as were most of the houses within a quarter-mile radius. Within this area there are about seven new homes finished and five more under construction - all replacing homes at least 40 years old. Of those seven that are finished, four have been sold. A couple of others have been for sale now for several months.
I have no idea if those homes are getting much prospective-buyer traffic, but a house that has been for sale more than six months stands out. You can almost imagine a sign posted in the yard that reads: “Nope. Not this week.”
A builder on Ferry Drive recently invited the neighborhood to an open house as a way of showing off one of two new homes. It was a nice evening - wine, soft drinks and cocktail eats. However, I’m not so sure the event would have happened if the place had a lot of potential buyers walking through it on a daily basis.
I’m not an expert on the financial aspect of building homes on spec, and right now I don’t understand why people are laying out big money to buy older homes, knock them down and building a more expensive property. Not with the economy the way it is.
I’m not objecting to the practice - just wondering why anyone would roll the dice right now.
Most houses in our neighborhood sell for around $300,000, with the houses replacing them priced just below $1 million. Great idea, if people are buying. Bad idea when they’re not.
Is this all connected to factors like the mortgage-industry crises and rising gas prices? Or is Sandy Springs not the hot property some thought it might be.
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