Inventory in the residential real estate market is at a historical low and the average number of days on the market is decreasing. If you have been thinking of selling, now is the time.
Across the six core counties of Metro Atlanta, 14,579 homes were sold in the first quarter of 2021. This represents an increase of four percent from Q1 2020, and looking back pre-pandemic, an increase of 11 percent on Q1 2019. These are solid sales increases but looked at in isolation do not tell the full picture of the heat in the market.
Buyers entered 2021 with continued enthusiasm to find new homes that meet their current and future lives, however, this demand was met with a reality that continued from 2020; tight inventory resulting from more buyers than sellers.
Average inventory across the market dipped to 1.2 months’ supply in the first quarter, and in parts of Atlanta, this fell below one month. Looking back over the past 2 years, this is more than 50 percent below recent history. The resulting seller’s market is driving a variety of outcomes, but the most pronounced is sellers receiving multiple offers, most of which are above asking price, and homes are selling at a record speed. In March, the number of homes sold in Atlanta was 26 percent higher than the number of new listings that hit the market.
And while it is common for hot pockets of real estate to exist, in 2021 this extends across almost all neighborhoods and price points in Atlanta. The luxury housing market traditionally moves slower based on its niche buyers, but in the first quarter of 2021, the number of luxury homes above $1M that sold was 50 percent greater than last year, while inventory levels saw similar declines to all other price points.
The positive equity gain is now enticing more sellers to enter the market, offering some greater prospects to would-be buyers. To land the dream home, buyers, and their agents, are getting creative and homes are selling before they are publicly put on the market, thanks to in-the-know agents and word of mouth.
Atlanta brokerages are looking at creative ways to overcome the inventory challenges and offering more new construction homes is one such solution.
“Harry Norman recently announced a Developer Services division, our first department dedicated to builders and developers of new construction. This is prime time for us to be launching this department,” said Leslie Johnson, Harry Norman Managing Broker and lead of the Developer Services division. “The Atlanta housing market goes from strength to strength and demand for new construction homes is continuing to grow. This addition allows us to capitalize on the residential growth around metro Atlanta.”
Harry Norman’s Q1 Market Report and Q1 Luxury Report have been released to the public and share more insights and a deeper look into what is ahead for Atlanta.
Data source: Trendgraphix CHERO-COBB-DEKALB-FORSYT-FULTON-GWINN COUNTIES COMB (FMLS)
