By Lisa Schoolcraft, Staff Writer

Home Values may be falling nationally, but they are rising or at least holding steady in many parts of Atlanta, two separate housing price indexes show.

Atlanta’s home values have inched up slightly since April, according to the S&P/Case-Schiller report, which tracks housing values in 20 metropolitan markets, including Atlanta.

And prices are up 0.2 percent over the last year in Atlanta, according to the housing price index report by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. “That’s not a correction, because there is nothing to correct,” said Jeff Humphreys, director of economic forecasting at The University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.

Atlanta real estate agents say prices are holding steady especially in well established Atlanta neighborhoods such as Buckhead, Peachtree Battle, Garden Hills, Druid Hills, East Cobb, Virginia-Highland, Morningside, Dunwoody, and Sandy Springs.

Home Values are decreasing in outlaying counties that saw lots of new home construction and in areas where there was a lot of mortgage fraud, Humphreys said.

In the outlaying counties with an oversupply of new homes, builders are likely selling at deep discounts that compete with existing home stock, he said, driving down values. Likewise, homes in foreclosure as a result of mortgage fraud are undercutting the values of neighboring homes.

Homes in established neighborhoods, inside the perimeter, with short commutes are holding value, Humphreys said.

Georgia is not experiencing as much of the housing wealth destruction as other markets, such as Florida and California, he said. In those areas, prices are declining after a period in which prices rose as much as 22 percent a year. According to the most recent Case-Schiller report, home values are down 19.5 percent compared with last year. Las Vegas remains the weakest market, reporting an annual decline of 29.9 percent, followed by Phoenix, down 29.3 percent, and Miami, down 28.2 percent.

Atlanta, Dallas, Minneapolis, and Tampa have shown improvements in their home values, the report said.

Since April, Atlanta’s home values have inched up, the report shows, but year over year, the Case-Schiller report indicates Atlanta’s home values have decreased 8.2 percent.

Humphreys believes the Case-Schiller database is too narrow and instead uses the report by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which show Atlanta house values rose 0.2 percent in the past year.

Those Atlantans with vacation or investment homes in Florida are seeing some housing wealth destruction “but not in the house they are living in,” Humphreys said.

The common thread for homes that seem to be holding their value is thier location in older, established neighborhoods, real estate agents say.

“There’s not as much inventory in these areas,” said Wes Vawter III, founding partner of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty.

Vawter points to homes in Chastain, Vinings, Buckhead, Peachtree Battle and Brookhaven where many sales are occuring close to list price.

The average sales price of homes in Buckhead went up 10 percent from May to August, said Dac Carver, executive vice president and managing broker for Beachham & Co., which tends to represent higher-end homes in Buckhead.

“We are a niche player,” Carver said, “but we are seeing strength in the high-end homes.”

He’s also seeing “tremendous value in Dunwoody.” The average sales price in Dunwoody is in the low $400,000’s, he said.

East Cobb, particularly homes in the 30068 and 33067 ZIP codes, is experiencing steady home values, too, said Cheri Riley, found partner with Atlanta Fine Homes.

“Areas with good schools tend to stay strong”, she said, and East Cobb is known for its strong school system.

Where home values have held steady, “has to do with areas that were always desirable,” said Peggy Hibbert, found partner of Atlanta Fine Homes, who specializes in the east side of Metro Atlanta, including Decatur and Druid Hills. “Druid Hills is not a transitional neighborhood.”

People move to Druid Hills to stay in Druid Hills, she said. The same is true of Morningside, Virginia-Highland, and some areas around Decatur.

“On all the data I look at, if you are inside the perimeter, you have the best shot of perserving your home value of any area, said Shaun Rawls, operating partner of six Keller Williams Realty offices in metro Atlanta, including Peachtree Battle and Buckhead.

But even though values are holding steady, home prices are still getting adjusted, he said. Some home prices have to drop because they were not properly priced initially, Rawls said.

‘What we’re seeing is just two out of every 10 homes actually sells without a price reduction, even in areas that are holding steady.”

Where sales have occured much lower than list price, “that is probably an adjustment of where the price should have been, not that prices are declining,” Vawter said. “Some sellers were overly optimistic.”

A year into a tough housing market, sellers are more realistic about pricing their homes, he said.

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