I never get these lists... According to it (unless I'm reading it wrong), 349K in June 2007 buys you an upscale home (double median price) in metro Atlanta... Different Atlanta? For 349K you get a fixer upper in need of a lot of love. If you look hard, you can find a nice 2 bedroom, 1 bath for that but it certainly isn't upscale.

That's a bit depressing especially for people facing forclosure or those teetering on the edge - we in CA. paid way too much for our ugly tract-homes.

Very good on the home sale...

I am in the process of selling my home for similar reasons... I hope I'm catching a top...

Interesting, when we bought 4 years ago we had about 1/3rd down, yet with selling and what we've paid down on the mortgage we will bank about 3/4rds...

Predicting the future in real estate is simply voodoo magic mixed with future telling. Maybe Fortune mag can tell me the tommorrow's winning lotto numbers. Pure speculation and not worth the paper it's printed on.

This is a great thing for my wife and I as we are saving to buy a house, planning a purchase is in 2011 or 2012!

Congrats! It is definitely a buyers market now.

Ear: You must be talking about Virginia Highlands or Buckhead. That's not "average" Atlanta. They're talking about the entire metro area, all the way up to Cumming and down to Peachtree City.

Mike, yeah, Candler Park. Friend lives in Cumming. House cost half of mine yet has 3 times the space. And mine was a fixer upper. :) His basement is begger than my whole house. Crazy. Just never could live there, like the city life. Probably have to sell soon and it's a horrible market to do so right now. Hoping everyone is right that says selling intown is always easier since there are always people looking to be closer to work.

So if I am looking to buy a house right now at say $435K should I wait or buy now? Here's the sticker - I'm paying $2000 a month in rent. If I buy now, I stand to lose about $69k in equity over the next 5 years but if wait I throw away about $120k in rent. What is the conventional wisdom on that?

Joe Banks:

You need to factor in how much other money you'd be "throwing away" if you buy. Taxes, insurance, association fees? What if something breaks? Your problem. Also if you look up a 30 year loan and see how the payments break down, you'll see that roughly 90% of what you pay for the first 5 years is interest. I don't know your particular situation but all things considered, renting is very often the best choice for most people right now.

The recent decline in home sales has put our own plans on hold (we already own the lot, so no hurry to get the house on it). However, we live in a part of the country that didn't see the spectacular run ups on the coasts and so are still waiting for the bottom to fall out (or at least sag a little?). No doubt, there isn't much construction going up...but sellers are still trying to toe the line as far as prices...I bet they blink before I do though.

Sadly, this whole debacle is yet another example of how many people will hang themselves financially if you only give them a little rope. Up next: credit card delinquencies.

To Deborah:

Sorry but there is no way you are catching the top. The top would have been early-mid last year. Right now you're actually selling in the worst type of market. Not only have prices come down but fear is ruling everything. A year from now prices will still probably be softer but people MAY have become comfortable with the market and set realistic expectations. Right now anyone who is buying is driven by the constant headline news of the housing market disaster so they are being cautious as hell and looking for very low prices. My uncle had his house on the market since February and had to sell because he was taking an overseas assignment. He ended up finally selling in September. He initially listed it at $840K which is what the comparable homes in the area were "valued" at. He ended up having to sell for $680K - about a 20% drop. And this was in Northern NJ, a market that has been relatively resilient.

Put another way - this is not a good time to be a home seller.