Source: Georgia Association of REALTORS®
Even as prices rise in many communities, homes are selling faster now than they have in the past several years. This creates a situation where buyers need to move fast in order to secure homes, and they may have to pay more for them. While increasing prices generally coax more selling activity, there has been some hesitancy among potential sellers who worry that they will not be able to buy a desirable and reasonably priced home once they sell.
New Listings decreased 8.3 percent to 14,211. Pending Sales were up 8.1 percent to 10,839. Inventory levels shrank 13.7 percent to 41,643 units. Prices continued to gain traction. The Median Sales Price increased 8.1 percent to $200,000. Days on Market was down 17.9 percent to 55 days. Sellers were encouraged as Months Supply of Inventory was down 23.2 percent to 4.3 months.
Low housing supply has already prevented an outright national boon in sales activity, despite a continuation of near record-low mortgage rates and an unemployment rate under 5.0 percent deep into 2016. The issue is not purchasing power. Many areas are falling behind last year’s closed sales totals simply because of lack of available inventory. As this continues, higher prices may put a deeper squeeze on the current buyer pool.
Click here to view the full report.
