Happy Friday, people! We are seeing some pretty significant changes in the residential real estate market in Metro Atlanta. The latest market brief from the Atlanta REALTORS® Association is below. As you'll see, there has been a large increase in inventory giving buyers more options, but surprisingly they don't seem too pleased with the quality of the inventory in some pockets around the city. We are seeing homes sit on the market in neighborhoods like East Cobb and Milton for more than 90 days with major reductions in list price in order to sell. Some areas have so much inventory that they have become buyer's markets.
Why the sudden spike in new listings? I believe it is a combination of several factors: Interest rates dropped again and are suspected to continue to drop, so homeowners who have been on the fence about buying are ready to buy and therefore selling their homes. Many baby boomers are retiring and moving from the suburbs to the city and some from the city to the suburbs. Other homeowners are seeing the change in the market and scrambling to list their homes so they can make the most of their investment while there is still time.
The good news is, as previously mentioned, interest rates are really low so this is a great time to buy. Sellers and those of you thinking of selling, don't get discouraged. We are still seeing a nice rise in home prices. In May, we saw a nearly 5% increase from May of 2018. This is about half the rate we have seen year over year for the past 5 years in metro Atlanta, but it's exactly what we expected and welcome as the market starts to correct itself. It will be very interesting to see what June's numbers look like and I will post those as soon as they come out in mid July.
Demand:
May residential sales were at 5,999, a decrease of 3.7% from the previous year.
Price:
Average and median sales prices continue to gain traction and outpace 2018’s figures, with positive gains. The median sales price in May was $293,000, an increase of 4.3% from last May. The average sales price was $358,000, up 4.7% from the previous year.
Supply:
Atlanta area housing inventory totaled 14,827 units in May, an increase of 12.7% from May, 2018. New listings totaled 6,098, up 17.2% from May, 2018 and up 11.3% from the previous month. The month’s supply over a 12-month period increased to 3.1 months.
A Word from 2019 Atlanta REALTORS® President DeAnn Golden:
“The inventory for available homes has been improving for several months, which was helped by the addition of over six thousand new listings in May, the largest one-month increase in years. The number of new listings has stayed modestly ahead of the monthly sales for several months, which has improved the availability of home options for buyers.”
