Metro Atlanta home prices fell for the sixth month in a row in January -- and posted the largest annual drop among more than a dozen major metro areas, a new report shows.
Home prices fell 2.1 percent in January -- to their lowest point since summer 1997 -- as thousands of foreclosures and short sales selling at steep discounts continued to drag down the market, according to the latest Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday. The drop followed a 1.8 percent slide in December.
The region also had the worst year-over-year drop, with prices falling 14.8 percent.
“Atlanta continues to stand out in terms of recent relative weakness,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Indices.
Across the U.S., 16 of 19 metro areas saw price declines in January with Miami, Phoenix and Washington D.C. posting the only monthly gains, the index shows. Phoenix, Detroit and Denver were the only metros to post year-over-year gains.
Case-Shiller uses a baseline home price index in which 100 represents prices for the year 2000. An index of 125, for example, would reflect a 25 percent increase. Atlanta’s index in January fell to 85.49 with only Detroit lower at 68.81.
Eight cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland and Las Vegas, hit new lows since the slump began, despite some positive economic signs nationally in recent months, Blitzer said. While metro Atlanta prices are at 1997 levels, average prices across the U.S. are back to early 2003 levels.
High unemployment and sagging demand have continued to knock Atlanta's housing market. Even people with jobs are finding it difficult to qualify for a mortgage or remain wary of buying in a market where prices are still falling.
Meanwhile, foreclosures and short sales -- many of which sell for under $100,000 -- continue to make up a large chunk of sales and are dragging down prices. It will likely take several more years of foreclosures before the market begins to show any sustained increases in home values overall, according to a report from Prudential Georgia Realty.
Still, some in-town metro areas, such as Buckhead, Virginia-Highland and east Cobb County, and popular north Atlanta suburbs are showings signs of strength, said Dan Forsman, the firm's CEO.
“There are many markets that have very low inventory and the percentage of short sales and foreclosures are getting very low," he said.
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