Metro Atlanta home sales down 12.7% from year ago

The drop in the number of sales is a "silver lining" for potential homebuyers, said Jeff LaGrange, vice president at Re/Max. "Homes are sitting on the market a bit longer, which gives buyers the opportunity to negotiate terms and concessions."

However, the median sales price of a home sold in metro Atlanta during June hit $300,000 – up 6% from a year earlier, the Atlanta Realtors Association said.

The metro region remains a market in which sellers tend to have the advantage, except in the most expensive tiers of homes.

And the softening sales are not about weakening demand: It is the result of a shortfall on the supply side, said DeAnn Golden, president of the Realtors group.

Because the demand-supply balance is tilted in favor of sellers, prices have continued to rise faster than most incomes have increased.

“We would like to see more homes available for sale to help keep home prices manageable,” Golden said.

Overall supply of homes for sale last month represented just two months of sales. That compares with the six months of supply that experts say is needed for buyers and sellers to have relatively equal bargaining power.

June's mix – higher prices, smaller inventory and fewer sales – has become a familiar story, with most of the past 12 months following that script.

Median sales price, June

Gwinnett: $265,000

Cobb: $295,000

Fulton: $352,800

DeKalb: $411,875

Clayton: $146,750

Source: Re/Max

June sales, compared to year ago

Gwinnett: -8.9%

Cobb: -9.7%

Fulton: -12.7%

DeKalb: -21.8%

Clayton: -8.3%

Source: Re/Max