November 20, 2008

As a Realtor® and owner of a nationwide relocation company, I am daily faced with the effects of the economic meltdown on our real estate members all over the country. Consumer confidence is at an all time low which is adding to the current housing crisis. Buyers who have stable jobs and good income are postponing purchasing a home due to fear.

We need action by lawmakers NOW - not in January. Hopefully the lame duck Congress will listen to reason, and pass some meaningful bills! Bills that will RESTORE CONSUMER CONFIDENCE so that homebuyers are not frozen by fear! Even in areas which have a strong economy (low unemployment, healthy job outlook, no real estate bubble bursting) buyers are holding off buying – waiting for a lower interest rate, or the assurance that they'll buy at the absolute bottom price. They are also frustrated with the current lending environment that places a variety of barriers to getting a mortgage. This further impedes sales and price stabilization of the housing market.

A recent consumer survey conducted by Realogy Corp. (a National Association of Realtors ® member) stated how important housing is to this country's economic recovery. The survey found that nine out of 10 homeowners believe that owning a home is still the best long-term investment. But this same survey said that most people are not buying right now because of uncertainty about the market.

Recently the National Association of Realtors® sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson outlining steps he could take to stabilize the housing market. They also presented this plan to the House Financial Services Committee on November 18th. The four steps the recommended are:

1) Make the $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit available to all homebuyers and eliminate the repayment requirement.
2) Make the increased 2008 FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac loan limits permanent so that all American families can find a safe and affordable mortgage when buying a home.
3) Get the $700 billion Treasury relief program back on track and focused on providing stability to the nation's housing markets and reducing foreclosures.
4) Bar banks from real estate brokerage and management activities permanently, to avoid exposing consumers and the economy to more unnecessary risks.

NAR also provided an economic analysis demonstrating that a reduction, or a buydown, of interest rates by just 1 percentage point could result in up to 840,000 additional home sales and reduce the inventory of homes by as much as 20 percent. Substantially lower mortgage rates would stimulate both existing- and new-home sales.

These are great first steps to getting home sales going again.

It was Richard Nixon who said, "A recession is anytime people lose confidence in the future." Now is the time to restore confidence, people!

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Local Information for Duluth, GA

Latitude: 34.0031 -- Longitude: -84.145498

ZIP Codes for Duluth, Georgia	30026 30029 30095 30096 30097 30098 30099
Area Code for Duluth, Georgia	770
Time zone for Duluth, Georgia	EST

Other Area Cities: Auburn, GA Duluth, GA Lawrenceville, GA Norcross, GA Suwanee, GA Tucker, GA Alpharetta, GA Buford, GA Lilburn, GA Snellville, GA Sugar Hill, GA North Atlanta, GA Stone Mountain, GA Grayson, GA

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Duluth is a popular and rapidly developing suburb of Atlanta, falling close to Interstate 85, which allows for a quick commute to Atlanta. It has schools at all levels up through high school. Its Peachtree Industrial Boulevard is the same road as Atlanta's Peachtree Road and Peachtree Street.Duluth is an old city, with its origins stretching back to the early 1800's, when it was primarily forest land. Initially only Cherokee Indians lived in the area, but with the creation of Gwinnett County, Georgia it was opened to white settlers.The shared names between Duluth, Georgia and the more well-known Duluth, Minnesota are no coincidence. Originally called Howell's Crossing after one of its founders Evan Howell, grandfather of Atlanta mayor Evan P. Howell, the town was renamed in 1871 to match the name of Minnesota's Duluth (which in turn is named for Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut) when it was named in a bill in the U.S. Congress to fund rail to that remote town. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Georgia 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Duluth	Georgia	United States
Population	22,122	8,186,453	281,421,906
Median age	32.9	33.4	35.3
Median age for Male	32	32.1	34
Median age for Female	33.8	34.6	36.5
Households	8,735	3,006,369	105,480,101
Household population	22,057	7,952,631	273,643,273
Average household size	2.53	2.65	2.59
Families	5,641	2,111,647	71,787,347
Average family size	3.1	3.14	3.14
Housing units	9,061	3,281,737	115,904,641
Occupied units	8,735	3,006,369	105,480,101
Vacant units	326	275,368	10,424,540

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November 20, 2008

Local Information for Duluth, GA

Latitude: 34.0031 -- Longitude: -84.145498

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