Can you believe we're already closing in on the end of the first quarter of 2018? As the weather begins to warm up, we enter the busy season in the real estate market. We're already seeing a flurry of activity for the new year, according to the February 2018 North Metro Atlanta Market Report. Prices and sales rose from last year while new and existing inventory decreased.
February 2018 North Metro Atlanta Market Report
February 2018 North Metro Atlanta Home Sales
According to the First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS), a total of 2812 North Metro Atlanta homes were sold in February 2018. That's a 4.8% uptick from the number of homes sold at the same time last year. Good news for buyers. The average days a North Metro Atlanta home spent on the market before being sold fell 14% from 56 in February 2017 to 48 in February 2018.
February 2018 North Metro Atlanta Home Prices
Year-over-year sale prices gained 2.3%, going from $323,473 last February to an average of $330,902 in February 2018. Even so, they slipped a slight 1.7% from January 2018. North Metro Atlanta Buyers paid 97.9% of the list price for their final sale price. That marked just 1/2% more than what they paid on average last February. In parts of Dekalb and Rockdale, buyers paid 100% of the list price. But in some areas of Gwinnett, they actually paid 101.6% above the list price on average.
February 2018 North Metro Atlanta Inventory
Inventory levels across the North Metro Atlanta area continue to decline. In February 2017, reports showed 8.4 months of new construction inventory available. By February 2018, that decreased to 6.2 months of available inventory. Parts of Rockdale, Cobb, and Fulton showed as much as 14 months on hand while other areas in Fulton only reported two months. Back in February 2017, the North Metro Atlanta area reported 3.2 months of existing inventory available. But last month, they only showed an average of 2.1 months on hand. One-third of the North Metro Atlanta area reported one month or less available inventory in February 2018. Parts of Fulton, on the other hand, had as much as five months.
What North Metro Atlanta Home Buyers Can Expect
After months of tamping down interest rates, the Federal Reserve began implementing small increases beginning in late 2015. Many financial experts believe they'll raise them again by 1/4% when they meet later this week. While whispers of as many as four increases could be expected in 2018, it appears that three are more likely to take place by year's end. However, a fourth can't be ruled out at this time. As of the writing of this post, Bankrate puts the average interest rate at 4.54% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. When you're ready to look for your next North Metro Atlanta home, contact me.
Laura Andersen, Keller Williams Realty Partners, your North Metro Atlanta REALTOR®
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