Metro Atlanta home sales dipped nearly 10 percent in January compared to the same month in 2014, but median sale prices continued their upward march, according to a report released Monday by the Atlanta Board of Realtors.
Board President Ennis Antoine said investors bought fewer homes in the month of January, which accounted for the decline in sales, but that meant traditional sales made up a larger proportion of the market. Traditional sales tend to come at higher prices.
Although total sales figures were soft, the median price of a home sold in the region last month was $203,000, up 13.4 percent compared to January 2014, the report said.
January’s report also brought another positive sign — more sellers are putting their houses on the market. The regional inventory of single family homes on the market climbed in January, with new listings up 17.2 percent from a year ago.
“Low interest rates, rising sale prices, economic expansion and balanced inventory support my expectation that the market will continue its strong and steady growth,” Antoine said in a news release. “I believe the dynamic economic recovery we are seeing is going to have a major impact on the 2015 Atlanta housing market.”
Metro Atlanta home prices have slowly climbed out of the recessionary ditch thanks to a combination of factors, including a slowdown in foreclosures and a relatively low supply of available homes.
The Atlanta Board of Realtors tracks actual sales and prices in 11 metro counties.
Read more about this report later today at our subscriber website, MyAJC.com, or in the Tuesday print edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
