Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Marietta, GA Get this data
in your Inbox

You have successfully subscribed to the local housing data e-newsletter for .

If you wish to receive monthly updates for other market areas please subscribe to new markets using our expanded form.

Newest Figures Show New Home Sales and Prices Rise in Atlanta

Posted on: May 06, 2013 07:02:14 AM

In the Atlanta, GA market in January, new home closings rose year-over-year, and the percentage hike that was sharper than December 2012 seems to indicate improving market conditions. Closings gained 34.3% from a year earlier to 482. This was after the housing market saw an 18.7% boost year-over-year in December.

A total of 7,572 new homes were sold during the 12 months that ended in January, up from 7,449 for the year that ended in December.

Out of all housing closings, new home closings accounted for 6.7%. This marks a rise from 4.4% of total closings a year earlier. For new and existing homes, closings slid in January after also declining in December year-over-year.

Pricing and Mortgage Trends

Average price of newly sold homes had an 11.7% gain year-over-year to $286,920 per unit in January. This boost is better than the 1.9% rise in December year-over-year.

For newly sold homes, the average mortgage size saw a bump year-over-year along with new home prices. In January 2013, the average mortgage size on newly sold homes saw an 11.6% rise from a year earlier. In December 2012, average mortgage size rose 2.4% from a year earlier. On aveage, the percentage of new home sale price that was being financed went from 87.7% of average price to 87.5% from a year earlier. It moved from 83.1% in December 2011 to 83.5% in December 2012.

Other Market Trends

As a share of new home closings, single-family home closings have climbed from last year while the share belonging to attached units has fallen. Single-family home closings climbed from 86.6% of new closings in January 2012 to 88.2% of closings in January 2013. Meanwhile, attached units as a percentage of all new home closings declined to 11.8% of closings from 13.4% of closings.

There was a 29.2% decline year-over-year in the average unit size of newly sold homes to 1,670 square feet in January 2013. This drop was opposite the price lift, a pattern also seen in December 2012 when the average size of newly sold homes fell 22.3% to 1,958 square feet.

Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) closings decreased in January from a year earlier, but stayed a drag on the market. Foreclosures and REO closings, taken together, represented 53.7% of existing closings, lower than 77.9% a year earlier. The percentage of existing home closings involving foreclosures slid to 22.8% in January from 41.2% a year earlier while REO closings as a percentage of existing home closings dipped to 30.9% from 36.7% a year earlier.

Please refer to the ABOUT THIS MSA tab to learn more about geographic coverage and data availability in the Atlanta, GA area.