The Beacham Insider
Metro Atlanta home sales were up seven percent in the first quarter of 2010, but many of Atlanta’s most affluent neighborhoods were up 40 percent or more including Alpharetta, Buckhead, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and Vinings. Home prices were up six percent from a year ago but remain 26 percent below 2007 highs. Average sales prices have dropped 13 percent from average original list prices. Sellers are now getting 83 percent of their original list price compared to 95 percent a few years ago. East Cobb is one area of metro Atlanta where prices have outperformed the rest of the market. Home prices are up five percent in East Cobb from 2007. The most challenged segment of the market is the ultra high-end ($2 million and up). Sales of homes priced $2 million or more are down 66 percent from 2007.
Click here to read more in the May issue of The Beacham Insider.
Metro Atlanta home sales were up 3.3% in August, led by a whopping 19% jump in condo sales (single family detached home sales were up 1%). August was the second month in the last three in which home sales have increased. Pending sales were up 56% year-over-year following a jump of 29% in July.
Nationally, pending sales are at their highest level in two years. Metro Atlanta home prices remain soft however, and were down 16% in August. For the year, prices are down 18% year-to-date. The decline in August was the 21st consecutive monthly year-over-year decline in Atlanta prices. With metro Atlanta housing inventory at its lowest level since March 2006, prices are expected to recover sometime in 2010. One Beacham Bellwether area has outperformed the others in 2009: The area of Buckhead north of Chastain Park where sales are up 6% in 2009.
Click here to read more in the October issue of The Beacham Insider.
Metro Atlanta home sales rose in June for the first time in nine months and just the third time in 33 months as buyers took advantage of deeply discounted home prices, which are at levels not seen in nearly 10 years. Sales of single family detached homes and condos were up 2% from a year ago. Areas that led the way included Alpharetta West/Roswell, Atlanta Intown, Dunwoody, and Vinings proper. Prices were down 16% from June 2008 and down 22% from the all-time high of $209,999 set exactly two years ago in June 2007.
Positive forces are at work however, laying the ground work for a recovery. For instance, metro Atlanta home sales are about the sale level they were in the year 2000, but the population of metro Atlanta has increased 25% since then.
Click here to read more in the August issue of The Beacham Insider.
In May, Atlanta real estate sales declined for 23rd time in the last 33 months, while Atlanta home prices declined for the 18th consecutive month. Home sales in metro Atlanta’s most affluent areas have been hit harder in 2009 than the rest of metro Atlanta due to fewer foreclosures compared to the metro Atlanta area as whole. Tight credit has also played a role in the sales decline of the Beacham Bellwether index, which was down 32% in May. Meanwhile, sales for metro Atlanta were down a relatively modest 15%. There were reasons for optimism in May however; Atlanta housing inventory was down 16,000 units from a year ago and the region recorded the first year-over-year increase in pending sales in three years.
Click here to read more in the July issue of The Beacham Insider.
Atlanta real estate sales were down 11% in March, while prices were down 16%. Buckhead real estate withstood a tough month; sales were down 48% from a year ago. Prices were down a more modest 17%. Brookhaven real estate produced the only positive price increase in the Beacham Bellwether index, as prices there rose 9% in March, and are down only 7% year-to-date. For the Atlanta real estate market as a whole, March produced a ray of hope for a turnaround; sales increased from February to March by the highest rate since 2006 when Atlanta real estate enjoyed its best year ever. While sales are showing signs of a stabilizing, prices continue to come under pressure. For example, the final sales price to original list price ratio is down to 82.1%. In the boom days of 2005-2006, the ratio was in the low-to-mid 90% range.
Click here to read more in the May issue of The Beacham Insider.
The picture for Atlanta home sales was as bleak as the weather in February. Atlanta real estate was down 18% from a year ago, while Atlanta real estate prices dropped 25%. The February results reflect the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis and stock market dive of late last year. There were some bright spots, including Buckhead real estate, in particular the area north of Chastain Park which posted a 125% increase in sales from February 2008. Other areas of Atlanta real estate the posted modest price gains were Alpharetta West real estate (+6%), Marietta/East Cobb (+2%), and Atlanta Intown (+3%), which encompasses the neighborhoods of Ansley Park, Midtown, Morningside and Virginia Highland.
Click here to read more in the April issue of The Beacham Insider.
In January, Buckhead and Alpharetta single family home sales were flat from a year ago but outpaced the rest of the Atlanta real estate market which was down 8%. In condo sales, Alpharetta-West and Intown Atlanta led the way with increase of 43% and 8%, respectively. Home prices for both single family and condos took a beating across the board, however. Prices in the Beacham Bellwether single family home index dropped 23% year-over-year while prices for metro-wide dropped 25%. With the average sales price for Atlanta homes for sale at $181,799, Atlanta real estate pricing is currently at levels not seen since early 1999. The good news in January was that housing inventory continued to decline. In fact, January marked the ninth month in a row that housing inventory had declined - the most consecutive months on record.
Click here to read more in the March issue of The Beacham Insider.
In December, Buckhead real estate closings were up 10% from a year ago while prices were up 15%. Other areas with improving sales were Dunwoody (condo and townhome sales up 13%) and Sandy Springs (single family home sales up 22%). For the year 2008, Buckhead real estate prices were up 1%, as were prices for Alpharetta real estate and Vinings real estate. Prices dropped 2% or less in five other communities in our Beacham Bellwether index of the most affluent neighborhoods in Atlanta, even as metro Atlanta real estate prices were down 13% in 2008. A big reason for Buckhead real estate prices remaining in positive territory last year was the 53% increase in the sale of new homes for more than $2 million.
Click here to read more in the February issue of The Beacham Insider.