The median price of a home sold in metro Atlanta in April was just 3.7% higher than the same month a year ago, according to a report from the Atlanta Realtors Association.
That year-to-year increase is smaller than it has been recently, meaning the market is decelerating. In 2018,prices for metro Atlanta homes climbed 7.6 percent.
Last month, the median price for a house sold in metro Atlanta was $282,000, the association said.
A big factor in the deceleration of prices was the increased number of homes for sale, according to the Realtors. The supply was up a solid 12.8 percent since April of last year.
That larger inventory represents about 2.9 months of sales, ticking up from 2.7 months in sales in March.
Experts say that a balanced market – in which sellers and buyers have roughly equal negotiating power – the number of listings should represent six or seven months of sales. So the current situation still gives the advantage to sellers.
But the market seems to be slowly balancing out, said DeAnn Golden, president of the association. "This increase in inventory in the early part of the buying season is a good sign for the months ahead."
The Realtors report is based on data collected in the 11 central counties of metro Atlanta by First Multiple Listing Service. On Friday, a survey of April home sales that includes 28 counties of metro Atlanta will be released by Re/Max.
Metro Atlanta housing market since last year
Total home sales: down 2.9%
Median sales price: up 3.7%
Average sales price : up 5.7%
Source: Atlanta Realtors Association
Metro Atlanta housing market snapshot, April
Total home sales: 5,134
Median sales price: $282,000
Average sales price: $350,000
Source: Atlanta Realtors Association
Median sale price of homes by county
Cobb: $298,000
DeKalb: $301,000
Fulton: $381,000
Gwinnett: $255,000
Source: Atlanta Realtors Association
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