Metro Atlanta home sales slumped to the finish line in 2010 but Buckhead real estate was one of the lone bright spots. Buckhead home sales (units sold) were up 6% in the fourth quarter of 2010 and finished the year up 7%. Meanwhile, metro Atlanta home sales were down 21% in the fourth quarter and and finished the year down 7% despite being up 15% in the first six months of 2010. Buckhead home prices outperformed the metro Atlanta area in the fourth quarter (+3% in Buckhead vs. -3% for metro Atlanta) but for the year metro both metro Atlanta and Buckhead were up 1%. Indeed, Atlanta home prices appear to have stabilized over the last two years as they have moved up and down in a narrow range for that period of time. Affluent buyers seized on the opportunity to buy at the bottom of the market. Sales of $2 million-plus homes in Buckhead were up 67% in 2010 vs. 2009 and nearly half of those sales occurred in the fourth quarter.
