Home price increases in metro Atlanta ran just slightly ahead of national trends as the autumn ended, according to a national monthly report.
Metro Atlanta’s single-family home prices were up 6.9 percent in November, compared to the same month of 2014, compared to the national average of 6.3 percent, according to the CoreLogic Home Price Index, released today.
“Heading into 2016, home price growth remains in its sweet spot as prices have increased between 5 and 6 percent on a year-over-year basis for 16 consecutive months,” said Frank Nothaft, the chief economist for CoreLogic, a California-based real estate research company.
The home market continues to be pulled in several directions. On one hand, the supply of homes for sale has been relatively sparse. That limited choice for potential buyers pushes prices higher.
However, that increase has been more rapid than the improvements in average paychecks, so some potential buyers have to settle for smaller homes or houses in less desirable areas, while others are priced out of the market altogether.
That dynamic gives an advantage to higher-priced homes and more affluent areas.
CoreLogic predicts a continuation in the market’s current trajectory: Average home prices, which had been rising at double-digit rates in the initial recovery from the devastating housing bust, have been decelerating for more than a year and that will continue, he said.
He predicted an increase of 5.4 percent in prices during 2016.
Among the larger metros tracked by CoreLogic, Atlanta’s price increase was the third-highest over the previous 12 months. Metro Dallas saw a 9.5 percent rise and Los Angeles prices rose 6.9 percent.
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