<b><a href="https://soundcloud.com/accesswdun/2015-norton-native-intelligence-forecast">LISTEN: 2015 Norton Native Intelligence Forecast</b></a><br />
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GAINESVILLE - Hundreds turned out for the 2015 Norton Native Intelligence Forecast at the Gainesville Civic Center Wednesday afternoon. <br />
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Frank Norton Jr., wearing one of his signature purple ties, highlighted that the era of foreclosures in north Georgia was over and that 21st century leadership was key to building a successful 2015.<br />
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"The need now is for bold leadership, to move us off center. We've had a downturn we've had now a plateau, and we need to be moving off center," said Norton. "We need to have bold ideas, and I've presented five bold ideas for Northeast Georgia that maybe go against, sometimes, conventional wisdom. It's important that we begin to swim upstream."<br />
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Below is a summary of the forecast:<br />
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<b>Five Bold Ideas</b><br />
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~Turn North Georgia into a second home Mecca - Norton said second homeowners are optimum neighbors, as they use minimum resources but give taxes.<br />
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~Refocus "definition of work" - Norton said today's sophisticated industrial user is all about statistics.<br />
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~It's time to talk collaboration - with counties and cities, local governement and more.<br />
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~Progressive Preservation - Figuring out how to keep the "soul" of North Georgia while still expanding.<br />
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~Self Sufficiency - specifically, on the topic of water.<br />
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<b>Housing Market Predictions</b><br />
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~Home values will continue to rise, but more slowly than 2014.<br />
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~Double-digit gains will be limited to California and the Southwest.<br />
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~Mortgage rates will hover below 5% for most of 2015.<br />
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~Foreclosures will continue to decline and construction will tip up.<br />
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~Mortgages will be easier to obtain.<br />
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<b>Real Estate Expectations</b><br />
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~Overall home inventory will remain at a historic low in most Metro Atlanta Micro markets - expect 3.5 to 4.8 months of home supply throughout 2015.<br />
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~National builders will continue to dominate the new home sector - by the end of 2015, 50 percent of all homes will be constructed by Atlanta's Top 10 builders.<br />
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~The strongest markets are driven by school zones - public elementary schools is driving the market inventory.<br />
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~Over 20,000 housing units - single family and condos - will be expected in the 22 county region. That's double the low year (2009) of 8,600 units.<br />
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~2015 starts the cycle of Atlanta life again - Residential growth begets commerical retail development, which will beget medical and service sector office growth. That will beget new jobs and business industrial expansion, which will in turn beget new residential. <br />
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<b>Top 10 2014 Business and Real Estate events for North Georgia</b><br />
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~Kubota Manufacturing expands in US 365 at the Gateway Industrial Park, bringing up to 1,000 new jobs to Hall County.<br />
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~Forsyth County SPLOST referendum passes, creating a 200 million dollar transportation program of work and could push other counties to mount similar initiatives.<br />
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~River Place Hospital in Braselton is months from opening, leading to companion development underway for other medical providers.<br />
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~Walmart Markets has come to Hall County with two stand alone grocery stores - the first Walmart Neighborhood Markets in the state of Georgia.<br />
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~Residential sales are on the way up - metro Atlanta and North Georgia inventory is down and horizontal development is returning in isolated pockets. With the decline, elementary school zones in Forsyth, Gwinnett, Cobb and Cherokee will see more and more land sales, rezoning and platted lot development.<br />
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~New poultry lab construction and sewer expansion on Georgia 365 have spurred other development.<br />
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~Jackson County is seeing a lot of industrial industry on 1-85. Over five million square feet of industrial space is either under construction or in the pre-development stage.<br />
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~National Builders have primarily concentrated their renewed construction activies in North Atlanta have entered Barrow, Hall and Jackson Counties.<br />
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~A record industrial sale of 37 acres of Dry Pond Road in Raco Industrial Park at $125,000 per acre.<br />
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~A boom in active adult communities, such as Cresswind and Deaton's Creek, lead the market into a new character and market demographic.<br />
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<b>Miscellaneous</b><br />
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~Demographics: In North Georgia, Generation X and Y overshadow the Baby Boomers - in fact, there are over 1 million Gen X and Gen Y people living here.<br />
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~Foreclosures: While there is still pain in the marketplace, Northeast Georgia and the country are at the end of the era of foreclosures. Home inventory is low, the housing market has tipped up and there is more building and sales. And, apartment vacancy is at 6% in North Georgia.<br />
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~Counties stacking up: North Georgia's hottest counties of 2015 - 2020 are Gwinnett, Forsyth, Cherokee, Jackson and Hall. Best Counties for long-term investment are Dawson, Barrow, Walton, Cherokee and Jackson. Counties to watch in 2015 are Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson, Franklin and Union. And, counties of concern for 2014-15 are White, Habersham, Stephens, Madison and Hart.<br />
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