Spotlight: Georgia
GEORGIA RANKED FOURTH NATIONALLY AMONG STATES IN FORECLOSURES STARTED THIS
PAST FIRST QUARTER, ACCORDING TO THE MORTGAGE BANKERS ASSOCIATION (MBA).
Realty Trac, meanwhile, listed the Peach State as sixth-worst in overall foreclosure activity this past
May. Almost 14,000 properties — one per 292 households — received at least one foreclosure notice
that month.
Some state legislators say Georgia’s
requirement for only 30 days’ notice
before foreclosure worsens the situation. “Saving your home in Georgia is harder than anywhere else in
the nation,” state Rep. Billy Mitchell
wrote in an Atlanta Journal-Constitu-tion opinion piece earlier this year.
FORECLOSURE RATE
Mitchell and other lawmakers hope
to extend the mandatory-notice period to 90 days. State House Bill
No. 972, introduced earlier this
year, also would stop foreclosures
against homeowners who pay off
past-due amounts, late fees and
associated charges.
Source: Realty Trac
If passed when the state general assembly reconvenes in January, the law could help home values re-
cover. Distressed-property sales contributed to a nearly 25-percent drop in Georgia home prices from
their July 2007 peak through early this year, according to CoreLogic.
Mortgage Delinquencies
Georgia’s 18.8-percent delinquency
rate on Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages was the
worst in the country this past first
quarter, according to the MBA. And
27 percent of the state’s borrowers
carry an FHA or subprime loan, compared to 22 percent nationally. This
concentration has led Georgia’s
12.1-percent overall delinquency rate
to rank third-highest nationally, and
its 6-percent severe-delinquency
rate was sixth-worst this past first
quarter, the MBA reported.
SEVERE MOR TGAGE DELINQUENCIES*
*Mortgages 90 days or more past due
Source: Mortgage Bankers Association
Population Growth
Traditionally development-friendly
zoning regulations have helped
Georgia add residents quickly. The
state’s population grew 19. 4 percent from 2000 through ’09, adding
1.6 million people, according to the
U.S. Census Bureau. The national
growth rate during the same period
was 8. 8 percent. Only Nevada ( 31
percent), Arizona ( 27. 7 percent) and
Utah ( 24.1 percent) grew at faster
clips than Georgia.
ANNUAL POPULATION GROW TH
Source: U. S. Census Bureau
Loan Resets
Four Georgia core-based-statistical areas (CBSAs) rank in a CoreLogic list of areas with the largest share
of Alt- A resets bet ween this past February and this coming February. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta tops
the list, with 15 percent of its Alt- A loans resetting in that time. Other Georgia CBSAs listed include Gainesville, (No. 2, 13 percent), Athens-Clarke County (No. 3, 12 percent) and Brunswick (No. 21, 9 percent).
Colorado and Florida also placed four CBSAs on the list.
3 Cities to Watch
ATLANTA
Greater Atlanta — which the Atlanta Regional
Commission defines as a 10-county area —
houses almost 44 percent of state residents
and received more than 57 percent of state
foreclosure filings this past May, according to
the U.S. Census Bureau and RealtyTrac. The
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta metropolitan
statistical area (MSA) ranked 126th out of 152
national MSAs by median existing-home price
($110,100) this past first quarter, according to
the National Association of Realtors.
ATHENS
Home to the University of Georgia, this town and
its surroundings saw their median home price
drop 12. 7 percent to $144,000 from May ’09 to
this past May. Units sold decreased from 129 to
122 in the same period, according to the Athens
Area Association of Realtors.
Photo: Sterling E. Stevens
AUGUSTA
Photo: photogolfer
Best-known for hosting golf’s Masters Tourna-
ment, Georgia’s second-biggest city has shown
economic endurance, according to the Brookings
Institution’s MetroMonitor. In the three-year pe-
riod ending this past first quarter, Augusta hous-
ing prices dropped 6.2 percent versus a national
decline of 17 percent.
WHAT;THE;LOCALS;SAY
“Atlanta has some great opportunity for really
good investments. You still have a large pool of
people out there looking for homes. Competition
for [distressed properties] has heated up. As that
inventory starts decreasing, I think you’ll see a
stabilization of values.”
—;JOY;MILLARD,;BRANCH;MANAGER,;EMBRACE;HOME;LOANS
Sources: Athens Area Association of Realtors, The Atlanta Journal-
Constitution, Atlanta Regional Commission, Atlanta Regional Housing,
The Augusta Chronicle, Brookings Institution, CoreLogic, Georgia
Department of Labor, Greater Augusta Association of Realtors, Mortgage
Bankers Association, Mortgage Banking, National Association of Realtors,
The New Georgia Encyclopedia, Realty Trac, University of Georgia,
U. S. Census Bureau
