As long as I have been in Atlanta Real Estate, it's always been a buyer's market.  Sure there were some streets and some neighborhoods that had a certain essence that people clamored for, but overall, as a buyer you could always expect concessions of some sort.

If you're a big fan of the media, you might want to click away right now, because I hate to break it to folks, but this is one of the best years ever for Real Estate.

Let's get right into the facts (all from our MLS).

 (Left: Centennial Olympic Park Fountain, By Hamwithcam)

Let's first look at Atlanta Homes that Sold In January & February (Just Single Family Detached)

• Worst Year this Millennium? 2000  - With barely 2,000 homes sold in Jan 00, and almost 3,000 in Feb 00
• Best Year this Millennium? 2006 & 2007 ?!?!?  - Yep, those are the numbers, Both years started at just under 4,000 homes sold in Atlanta, to just over 5,000 for Feb. of those months.
  
• How About 08?  Jan 08 saw about 2,500 Atlanta Homes sold, while Feb saw about 3,000 homes sold in Atlanta.
  

OK, so home sales are not that bad, but what about prices? Prices are down 10% according to CNN.  So again all the single family detached homes in Metro Atlanta are put out there for the millennium comparison. 

What is the average sales price in Atlanta.  Drum Roll!!! 

• Worst First Quarter Year of this Millennium? 2000 - DUH! With an average of $195K.
• Best Year? I'm tempted to put a spoiler alert here, but you might have guessed.... 2007 was the best year ever for average sales price of an Atlantan home.  At about $252K, you'd likely have some equity if you bought in Metro Atlanta.
  
• So how are we doing?  We're down. In 2008, we have about a 4% decrease from last year to $235K.
  

One thing the media did get right this year is Days On Market, let's take a look.  Again, we're only looking at the first quarter (minus March) for the millennium.

• Worst Year - 2008 - Just over 100 days on market.
  
• Best Year - 2000 - With about 65 Days on market for homes in Atlanta.
  

So at the end of the day, are we in a buye's market?, Yes.  Are we in a bad market? No.  It's a great time to move up and a great time to buy as always. 

What's especially nice is that the high octane Realtors out there are getting a lot more business because it takes more than just a sign and the MLS to sell a home!   

Till nextime....