A Line Drawn in the Sand

The media is full of great stories about our national housing market. Atlanta is also included as one of the latest success stories. If you read between the lines in these articles you will see that the surging house market is also causing other issues for homeowners. For the homeowner who is "underwater" in their home, moving forces them into a financial dilemna: lose money on their existing home to pay more for another home or stay where they are? What I am seeing an hour north of Atlanta is a direct result of the perceived surge in home sales: My neighbors are holding out for 2007 prices. I live in the only golf/boating community on Lake Lanier. At one time I saw homes selling for $1 million dollars! Last year the highest priced sale was $430,000! Many of my neighbors bought lake homes at the top of the market. In addition they spent more money on upgrades. As the foreclosures and short sales appeared in the neighborhood, prices declined. Finally we have reached the bottom. In the case of our area it was a 30% decline to the bottom. So now my potential sellers are in a quandry: •I want to sell my home but I dont want to lose money •Everything I read says the housing market is on its way up. Where is my price increase? •I dont understand why buyers will not pay what I have in my home. As a result they have "drawn a line in the sand". They are going to hold out until they can get their "fair" price for their home. The line has been drawn.