Hall home sales up 13.4 percent so far this year

GAINESVILLE - The number of home sales in Hall County the first two months of the year increased 13.4 precent over the same period last year. The Norton Agency's Abernathy Cochran Group also reports that during the same two months, home sales, statewide, declined by six percent.

But while the actual number of home sales continues to increase, the average home sales price continues its downward trend.

According to the report, the average home sales price in Hall County for January 1 to February 28, 2008, was $241,775; for the same time period in 2009, it was $207,750 (a 16% decline year-over-year); for the same time period in 2010, it was $166,975 (a 20% decline year-over-year); and finally, for the same time period in 2011, it was $155,030 (a 7% decline year-over-year). This "average home sales price" mentioned above is overall, the report says, adding that several price range segments have already leveled off.

Last year, in 2010, Hall County had a greater percentage increase in home sales over the previous year than any other metro Atlanta county, the State of Georgia as a whole, and the nation. The report concludes the 13.4% increase in home sales so far this year over the same period last year is "especially excellent news" considering that home sales last year escalated due to the federal home buying tax incentives that ended in April 2010.

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