House Hunt: Homes For Under $50K

The bad housing market has left many homeowners underwater with their homes' worth less than what they owe on their mortgages.

But for those hunting for new digs, it's veritable buyer's market.

In this week's Home Sweet Home, we look at homes for sale under $50,000.

Sure, some of them are foreclosures and others might need some renovations, but for those with the inclination and the willingness to put in the elbow grease, they're out there.

Home prices are low for a confluence of reasons:

• Banks, in the wake of several years of loan losses, are more stringent with mortgage qualifications
• Since fewer people can qualify for mortgage loans, the pool of buyers has shrunk in tandem
• Foreclosures in Georgia, which were 11,743 in August, fell 28 percent from the same period last year, according to RealtyTrac. But the Peach State still ranks No. 5 nationally
• Foreclosures drag down the prices of other similarly-sized homes in that same neighborhood

Those all help explain why the home prices are low and why mortgage rates are at historic lows.

A 30-year-fixed-rate mortgage in the 30316 Zip code, which includes the East Atlanta Village and Ormewood Park neighborhoods, ranges from an annual percentage rate of 3.85 percent to 4.48 percent, according to Bankrate.com.