Friday Five: Findings from the Atlanta Housing Market Summit

By: Brad Horner

On Wednesday, local real estate data experts SmartNumbers and ViaSearch jointly hosted their semiannual Atlanta Housing Market Summit. 

The good news from the event: The worst is considered to be behind us and Atlanta’s housing outlook is improving. 

The not as good news: Atlanta is not out of the clear just yet.

Below are the top five findings from the event, as covered in Michelle Shaw’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution article Housing outlook better, but still mixed:

1. Home prices are at 2003 levels and lot prices are akin to what developers paid in 2002.  New homes tend to be smaller, with less-expensive standard finishes — as once was the norm in a starter home.
2. Almost 40 percent of all homes selling in 2010 are under $100,000.
3. New home sales historically claimed nearly 50 percent of closings, but last year the segment accounted for 20 percent.
4. Existing home sales will hold up the market until conditions change.
5. The Atlanta market, before home prices skyrocketed, was fueled by first-time buyers during the boom years. Their numbers dropped sharply when the economy dived and housing tanked. A resurgence of the trend means the market is stabilizing.