Sale prices
The median sale price of metro Atlanta homes is up substantially over the previous year.
Month….Median price…..Year-over-year percent increase
May…..$200,000…..39.9
June…..$215,000…..6.3
July…..$217,000…..47.1
August…..$205,675…..38.5
September…..$189,000…..35.0
October…..$189,704…..5.5
November…..$181,000…..20.7
December…..$196,000…..21.0
January…..$180,000…..22.4
February…..$187,000…..16.9
March…..$208,000…..16.9
Homes sold
The number of homes sold in metro Atlanta dropped from the year before in seven of the past eight months. March data is preliminary.
Month…..Total sales…..Year-over-year percent change
May…..4,600…..5.5
June…..4,351…..7.0
July…..4,623…..9.5
August…..4,268…..- 1.2
September…..3,594…..- 0.9
October…..3,613…..- 5.3
November…..3,103…..- 9.0
December…..3,429…..2.9
January…..2,561…..- 4.6
February…..2,708…..-6.6
March…..3,255…..-12.6
Source: Atlanta Board of Realtors
WHY IT MATTERS
Home sales and values are important even to people who aren’t likely to sell or buy anytime soon. The state of the housing market contributes to the so-called “wealth effect” that helps drive the broader economy by making people more confident about purchases of all types.
The spring thaw in the metro housing market isn’t materializing — at least not yet.
March data from the Atlanta Board of Realtors shows sales volume down, and prices higher. That’s been the pattern for several months, but many in the industry have been predicting sellers would start listing in the spring, raising the low supply, slowing the price increases and restoring a more “normal” market.
The March figures suggest that may not be the case, as many would-be sellers are content to stay put.
“Where have all the sellers gone?” asked John Hunt, a senior analyst with real estate analysis firm Smart Numbers in Atlanta. “I think people, because of what they went through, hunkered down and made do. Instead of moving, maybe they’re doing repairs they put off.
March sales in an 11-county metro Atlanta area fell 12.6 percent from the prior year, according to the Atlanta Board of Realtors monthly report.
The number of homes on the market is far lower than it should be considering the number of buyers. And while new home construction has created some more availability, it hasn’t been enough to pull the balance of homes to buyers closer to normal.
March sales were up from February, so there is some seasonal impact as the weather gets warmer and flowers bloom. But year over year, sales were down due to the still-low number of for-sale homes.
“I didn’t expect inventory to be lagging this long,” said Christian Ross, president of the Atlanta chapter of the Women’s Council of Realtors and a Realtor with Keller Williams Peachtree Road. “By April, I thought there’d be plenty more to choose from.”
Ross is sending letters to condo owners begging them to sell — and having no luck so far. One buyer got outbid on three condo units in the same building, Ross said. Another potential buyer, who wanted a four-bedroom in Roswell, had to expand the search after their parameters revealed only five houses.
Normally, Ross said, the request would have come with more like 40 homes to view.
“There’s just nothing,” she said.
In part, that’s because there are now far fewer foreclosures and distressed properties for sale, said Eugene James, Atlanta regional director of the housing information company Metrostudy.
“Total sales volume is down because there are not as many bargain houses as there were a year ago,” he said.
In addition to decreasing the number of sales, the dearth of cheap homes helps push prices higher. Median sales prices rose to $208,000 in March, up 16.9 percent from last year. They were as high as $217,000 last July.
As prices rise, James said, he would have bet that people who were underwater in the past — owing more than their home’s value — would see their higher equity and make the decision to sell. For some reason, he said, that is not happening.
“People are not aware,” he said. “(Realtors) ought to be bombing an area and knocking on doors to show them what’s occurring in their neighborhood.”
James speculated that some potential sellers are hoping prices rise even more. Others are simply reluctant to sell, he said.
While there is some chance that listings will rise in the next few months, James said it is unlikely that the amount of for-sale houses will be enough to meet existing demand.
Todd Emerson, president of the Atlanta Board of Realtors, said the number of available homes is rising slightly. Because some real estate agents are selling homes that are “coming soon” or are making deals without listing them in the First Multiple Listing Service, where the Atlanta Board gets its numbers, as many as 20 percent of all homes sold in the region may not be properly recorded, he said.
But even with that hidden activity, Emerson said, inventory levels are almost assured not to return to normal before the fall.
“New construction is still trying to play catch up,” he said. “They can’t build them fast enough.”
In the meantime, buyers can expect to have to make quick decisions if they see a home they want to buy, he said. Multiple offers are still common.
“I think it’s going to remain like it is right now,” Emerson said.
About the Author
