Atlanta real estate market enjoys best year ever in 2015 but what’s next?

BI-chartAtlanta residential real estate enjoyed all-time highs in both number of sales and average sales price in 2015. The number of single family detached and condo home sales in the primary five county Atlanta metropolitan area (Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett) rose 11.8% in 2015 from 2014 (53,801 to 48,104). The average sales price increased 6.2% to $284,644 compared to $267,952 in 2014. Both figures represent all-time highs for Atlanta, but will the good times continue in 2016?

The answer is heavily dependent on replenishment of the housing supply, which dropped to a two-year, near all-time low last month. The months’ supply of inventory was a mere 2.9 months in January, meaning it would take just three months to sell all the homes currently on the market in Atlanta. The National Association of Realtors says a healthy market where supply and demand are in balance is a six months’ supply.

Meanwhile, buyer demand is surging according to Dac Carver, Vice President and Managing Broker BI-chart2for Beacham & Company. “We had more traffic on our website last year than any year in our history and traffic is already up 53% in 2016,” Carver said. “The selling season started two weeks earlier than it did last year or most years. Multiple offers are common again, as they were last winter. The market needs new inventory.”

The type of inventory needed gets tricky for homes priced more than $1 million. said the divergence between the market above and below $1 million has a lot to do with demographics.

“The Baby Boomer generation wants to downsize, but the generation behind them is not large enough to absorb the number of big homes coming on the market. Atlanta’s population growth and strong economy are mitigating factors but what we really need are new homes for the first-time homebuyer and move-up markets. For Atlanta Intown, more investor renovations and new entry-level condos are needed.”

Beacham & Company outperformed the market 2015. Company sales (including off market) were up 34% while dollar volume sold was up 38%. The company sold 200 more homes than it did in 2014 and $150 million more in dollar volume. The company has the highest average sales price of any firm in Atlanta and has the most productive agents by dollar volume sold per agent.

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About Beacham & Company, REALTORS®

Beacham & Company is an independent, locally-owned, full service residential real estate brokerage firm that specializes in Atlanta luxury real estate. The firm’s office is located in the heart of Buckhead at One Buckhead Plaza next to the St. Regis Hotel and across the street from Buckhead Atlanta shopping district. With more than 100 licensed sales associates, Beacham is the top selling office in Atlanta by dollar volume of single family detached listings sold and its agents are the highest producing in the city by dollar volume sold.