The Commerce Department reported that March new home sales were up 11% over February sales. The pace of new home sales however, continues to be well below the pace at which economists consider healthy. Builders continue to struggle and compete with the large numbers of foreclosures.
Fannie Mae released their new economic outlook. They indicated that United States economic data continues to indicate a slowdown in activity. Consumer spending is down and business investment and commercial real estate construction have also slowed markedly. Consumer confidence is down as a result of high gasoline prices. Fannie Mae noted that single-family and multifamily starts fell sharply in February. In addition Fannie Mae noted that consumer’s home price expectations for this year have deteriorated materially during the last several months. Only about 44% of survey respondents expect home prices to rise during 2011.
Costar reported that first quarter office sales are up strongly but, not surprisingly, not all markets are benefiting. They reported that the highest sale prices per foot are located in New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston. These five cities have average sale prices of over $300 per foot. Other cities, including Atlanta, have average sale prices under $100 per foot.
In Georgia the effective date of appraisal for property tax purposes is January 1. The County assessors will only be considering market data from dates prior to January 1. The first quarter data which is now coming out will be called unusable by the assessors. However, what happened in the first quarter was somewhat influenced by consumer and investor expectations on January 1. As such, it may be useful to include some of this information during your appeal, especially when presenting before the Board of Equalization.
