The median price for existing homes sold in metro Atlanta grew 2.4 percent in November compared to the year before, according to data released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors.
The median price in the metro area was up to $129,300 from 126,300 in November 2008, NAR said. Sales volume was up 33 percent over November 2008, one of the deepest months in the recession.
The increase in price is the first since 2008, according to the data.
Nationally, existing home sales 7.4 percent last month, the NAR said, as first-time homebuyers closed deals before the Nov. 30 expiration of the federal tax credit, which was recently extended and expanded. The pace is 44.1 percent higher than November 2008.
“This clearly is a rush of first-time buyers not wanting to miss out on the tax credit, but there are many more potential buyers who can enter the market in the months ahead,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said in a statement. “We expect a temporary sales drop while buying activity ramps up for another surge in the spring when buyers take advantage of the expanded tax credit, which hopefully will take us into a self-sustaining market in the second half of 2010. In all, 4.4 million households are expected to claim the tax credit before it expires and balance should be restored to the housing sector with inventories continuing to decline.”
Please click here for the entire story on the Atlanta Business Chronicle about Atlanta home prices
Existing-home sales rose again in November as first-time buyers rushed to close sales before the original Nov. 30 deadline for the recently extended and expanded tax credit, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS(r).
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 7.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million units in November from 6.09 million in October, and are 44.1 percent higher than the 4.54 million-unit pace in November 2008. Current sales remain at the highest level since February 2007 when they hit 6.55 million.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the rise was expected. “This clearly is a rush of first-time buyers not wanting to miss out on the tax credit, but there are many more potential buyers who can enter the market in the months ahead,” he said. “We expect a temporary sales drop while buying activity ramps up for another surge in the spring when buyers take advantage of the expanded tax credit, which hopefully will take us into a self-sustaining market in the second half of 2010. In all, 4.4 million households are expected to claim the tax credit before it expires and balance should be restored to the housing sector with inventories continuing to decline.”
Inventories Fall
Total housing inventory at the end of November declined 1.3 percent to 3.52 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 6.5-month supply at the current sales pace, down from an 7.0-month supply in October. Raw unsold inventory figures are 15.5 percent below a year ago. The last time there was a lower supply of homes on the market was April 2006, when it was at a 6.1-month supply.
“Nearly all markets experienced a solid sales gain from one year ago,” Yun said. “The only markets with measurably lower sales were in San Diego, Riverside, and Sacramento (Calif.), where inventory shortages for lower-priced homes are limiting sales.”
Sales Rise Across the Board
For the second month in a row, sales have risen in all price classes from a year earlier. Prior to October, the only consistent gains were in the lower price ranges. The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $172,600 in November, which is 4.3 percent below November 2008. Distressed properties, which accounted for 33 percent of sales in November, continue to downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes in the same area.
Single-Family Homes
Single-family home sales jumped 8.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million in November from a level of 5.32 million in October, and are 42.1 percent above the pace of 4.06 million in November 2008. The median existing single-family home price was $171,900 in November, down 4.4 percent from a year ago.
Condos
Existing condominium and co-op sales in November were unchanged from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 770,000 in October, but are 60.1 percent above the 481,000-unit pace a year ago. The median existing condo price was $178,000 in November, which is 3.1 percent below November 2008.
By Region
Sales in the Northeast rose 6.6 percent to an annual level of 1.13 million in November, and are 52.7 percent higher than November 2008. The median price in the Northeast was $223,400, down 13.1 percent from a year ago.
Existing-home sales in the Midwest increased 8.4 percent in November to a pace of 1.55 million and are 53.5 percent above a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $140,800, a decline of 0.4 percent from November 2008.
In the South, existing-home sales rose 4.8 percent to an annual level of 2.39 million in November and are 44.8 percent higher than a year ago. The median price in the South was $151,400, down 1.4 percent from November 2008.
Existing-home sales in the West increased 10.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.46 million in November and are 28.1 percent above November 2008. The median price in the West was $231,100, which is 4.1 percent below a year ago.
Please click here for the entire story from realtor.com on the gains in existing home sales.
Descante, 3650 Tuxedo Road ~ Most expensive home ever sold in Atlanta
As we begin to look back on an “interesting” year in Atlanta’s real estate history, a few significant events surface regarding the role of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty in the residential real estate market in Atlanta in 2009 (as of December 15, 2009).
We participated in 60% of the ten highest priced residential closed sales in metro Atlanta
Our market share of listings has grown by over 60%
Our closed sales are up YTD by 16%, while the market as a whole is down over 20%
Congratulations to our unmatched team of REALTORS® at Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, and to our SkyRise Group, who manages luxury high rise condominiums. We also thank the co-op agent community for bringing these important deals together.
The recovery in the Atlanta real estate market is confirmed by several recent statistics.
First, new figures from Trendgraphix show that the number of homes for sale in metro Atlanta has declined substantially. A reduction in the excess supply means that sellers have more bargaining power in their real estate transactions.
Second, new data from Case-Schiller shows that the extreme slide in housing prices in the last few years is over. In fact, housing prices have increased by 4 percent in the last year.
Finally, mortgage rates have risen in the past week. The rise in mortgage rates is due to increasing demand by buyers.
In sum, there are more buyers, higher prices, and fewer homes for sale in metro Atlanta. All of these figures indicate that now is a better time to sell a house than any time in the last few years.
To update our original post of Significant Sales in Atlanta in 2009, we have several homes to add that had an original list price of over $3 million.
27 Brady Lane was sold in October 2009 with an original list price of $5,995,000. The listing agent was Carrie Faletti. The home is located on Lake Burton.
3200 Ridgewood Road
3200 Ridgewood Road was sold in November 2009 with an original list price of $6,200,000. The listing agent was Studie Young of Harry Norman, REALTORS. The agent representing the buyer was B.P. Pope of ReMax. The home is located in Buckhead.
3450 Woodhaven Road
3540 Woodhaven Road was sold in October 2009 with an original list price of $3,500,000. The listing agent was Carol Young of Harry Norman, REALTORS. The home is located in Buckhead.
2920 Habersham Way
2920 Habersham Way was sold in November 2009 with an original list price of $4,350,000. The listing agent was JoEllen Bradley of Beacham and Co. The agent representing the buyer was Betsy Akers of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. The home is located in Buckhead.
4300 Harris Trail
4300 Harris Trail was sold in November 2009 with an original list price of $7,685,000. The listing agent was Wendy Zoller of of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. The agent representing the buyer was Chuck Wood of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. The home is located in Buckhead.
Median home prices in the metro Atlanta area fell 14.5 percent in the third quarter, according to data published Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors.
The NAR report said the median price of a single-family home in the metro area was $129,400 in the third quarter, compared with $151,300 in the third quarter of 2008. The price was $121,400 in the second quarter.
The median price in the area was $149,500 for 2008, $172,000 for 2007 and $171,000 for 2006.
The median price is where half sold for more and half sold for less.
During the third quarter, 123 out of 153 metropolitan statistical areas reported lower median existing single-family home prices in comparison with the third quarter of 2008, while 30 areas had price gains.
The national median existing single-family price was $177,900, which is 11.2 percent below the third quarter of 2008. Distressed sales — foreclosures and short sales — accounted for 30 percent of transactions in the third quarter, which continued to weigh down median home prices because they sell at a discount relative to traditional homes.
Metro Atlanta’s housing inventory began to deplete in the third quarter and housing starts rose, according to Metrostudy’s third-quarter housing report.
“Atlanta’s housing market has hit a bottom,” said Eugene James, director of Metrostudy’s Atlanta division. “Almost all housing indicators have reversed and are now heading in a positive direction. Finished inventory has been reduced to a level where builders have been forced to resume building new homes.”
This September, Atlanta’s finished inventory was reduced to about 11,000 units, which is a 37 percent decline from September 2008 and a 48 percent decline from September 2007, according to Metrostudy. Finished vacant housing inventory is one of the fundamental indicators Metrostudy uses to monitor the health of the market.
Closings have surpassed starts for three years now. Plus, the gap between new-home sales and starts has widened each quarter.
In the third quarter of 2009, annual closings totaled 14,980, while annual starts totaled 4,748 in metro Atlanta. Total net absorption was 7,060, with more homes sold than built and delivered during the 12 months ending in September 2009. The result is depletion of finished housing inventory, James said.
The reduction of inventory has encouraged Atlanta builders to switch gears during the third quarter and instead of slowing the pace of starts, they started more homes than in the previous quarter. James said the uptick in starts was a bright spot in the market. Atlanta builders started 1,152 homes in the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 17 percent compared to second-quarter starts.
“At 12.8 months, the new-home supply situation looks worse than it is,” James said. “We do not have an oversupply problem, we have a demand problem. The months-of-supply figure is inflated because of the unusually slow closings pace. As demand returns to the market, the months-of-supply figure will normalize.”
Demand has been hampered by the difficulty home buyers have qualifying for mortgages. Credit remains very tight, challenging both home buyers and builders. Continued job losses and high unemployment also hurt consumer confidence, James said. Demand for new homes will grow when the job market improves.
Despite poor demand, as evidenced by only 3,534 closings during the third quarter, the months of supply for finished housing declined from the second quarter. It was the first quarter-over-quarter decline in months of supply of finished homes in four years.
Metrostudy expects the months of supply will continue to decline in coming quarters.
David Boehmig, President, Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, reports from the Sotheby’s International Realty Global Leadership Conference in Parsippany, NJ.
His comments include a general optimism across the network regarding the number of units sold. done
The rate of home-price declines improved in July in the top 20 U.S. cities, and Atlanta posted a rise.
The average price of a home in Atlanta rose 2.3 percent from June to July, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, which are monthly reports that track home prices in 20 major U.S. cities. However, the average price of a home in Atlanta was down 11.8 percent year over year in July.
Nationally, the top 20 cities reported an average 1.6 percent increase in home prices from June to July. But the average price if a home in America was down 13.3 percent year over year in July.
Standard & Poor’s officials see some sort of housing rebound.
“The rate of annual decline in home price values continues to decelerate and we now seem to be witnessing some sustained monthly increases across many of the markets,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “… These figures continue to support an indication of stabilization in national real estate values, but we do need to be cautious in coming months to assess whether the housing market will weather the expiration of the Federal First-Time Buyer’s Tax Credit in November, anticipated higher unemployment rates and a possible increase in foreclosures.”
The survey tracks changes in the value of the residential real estate market by comparing sale prices of specific sample homes in a city at two different times.
The survey assigns an index number to each city and does not report actual home prices. The index is a measure of how much home prices have gone up or down in each market since January 2000, which has been assigned a price index of 100 in that market.
For the entire article on the Atlanta Business Chronicle, please click here.
In a new blog category called “Significant Sales”, we will celebrate the important transactions in Atlanta residential real estate.
Homes featured in this section will be single family homes sold for more than $3 million or condo/loft/townhomes that have sold over $1 million. These sales will cover the entire Atlanta market, including those sold by agents who are not with our company.
In an effort to “catch up”, we are listing the condos in Atlanta that have sold for more than $1 million since the first of the year. Homes are listed below in descending order by sales price. The information is collected from FMLS.
The Mansion on Peachtree in Buckhead sold its penthouse residence in June 2009, with an original list price of over $10 million. Representing the seller is Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s Realty SkyRise Group and Paul Donahue and Suzanne Dils. Representing the buyer was Bridget Rigdon of Coldwell Banker. This sale is believed to be the most expensive sale in the past four or five years.
Luxe in Atlanta's Midtown
Luxe in Midtown sold its penthouse unit in July 2009, with an original list price of $ 1,549,900. Representing the seller is The Marketing Directors and Dan Dought and Michelle Wing. Representing the buyer was Adam Ellis of Harry Norman, REALTORS.
The Astoria in the Peachtree Battle area of Buckhead
The Astoria in the Peachtree Battle area of Buckhead sold a three bedroom residence in March 2009, with an original list price of $ 1,299,900. Representing the buyer was Debbie Sonenshine of Coldwell Banker. Representing the buyer were Robin Tiechert and Jane Thompson of Harry Norman, REALTORS.
Above the Four Seasons in Atlanta's Midtown
On Fourteenth Street in Midtown, a home above the Four Seasons Hotel sold in April, 2009 with an original list price of $1,295,000. Representing the seller was Joanne Mathis of ReMax. The buyer was represented by Dale Arnold of Metro Brokers/GMAC. On this list, this is the only residence that was a resale; the others were new construction. The Mansion on Peachtree was sold as a shell.
Although not posted to FMLS, Sovereign in Buckhead has also sold two homes over $1 million in 2009. Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty represents Sovereign with Kevin McBride and Burma Weller on site.
27 Brady Lane was sold in October 2009 with an original list price of $5,995,000. The listing agent was Carrie Faletti. The home is located on Lake Burton.
