Despite mortgage rates inching up here late in the month, it remains a great time to purchase a house, especially if you intend to stay in it for a while.

But if you’re selling, the news is not so good as a report Tuesday showed that metro Atlanta home prices in October dropped more than any other major U.S. market and are now under January 2000 levels.

According to an AJC story, sales in the metro area are down 11.7 percent compared to October 2010, as Atlanta is the only major U.S. market that has endured a double-digit decline in that stretch.

And despite dropping prices and low rates, it’s investors, not people seeking a house, who are doing the buying. Distressed properties are being snatched up on the cheap, then given a quick fix for rental purposes or to later flip when the market strengthens.

The news story went onto say that nationally, home prices are back to 2003 levels and have dropped approximately 32 percent in the five years since the housing bubble burst. And while the prices have fallen overall, East Cobb is one of the few metro Atlanta submarkets where values have maintained rather well.