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Metro Atlanta's
Real Estate Update for July 2003.
August 20, 2004
We are reporting 6,091 single family closings for July 2004. This mark is
2.9% below the same year ago period, but after lagged closings are reported
we should be up about 5%. This is still respectable, as last year’s July
result was up over 20% from July 2002 and the greatest closing month last
year.
Condos and townhomes had another double digit increase.
There were 741 condo and townhome closings in July or a 10.8% increase over
last year. The increase in attached housing has been dramatic, as we have
closed more than a 1,000 more condos and townhomes this year versus the same
year ago period or a 22.3% increase. There have also been more condo and
townhome closings for the first seven months of 2004 then there was for all
of 2000.
Single family detached has also been strong in 2004. Through
July, there have been 33,357 closings or an increase of almost 10% versus
the same year ago period.
On an interesting note; looking back at June 2004 and after
lagged closings have now been reported, we had 7,106 closings and the first
time we have been over the 7,000 mark.
The strong condo and townhome market can be easily understood when reviewing
the average sale prices being reported. Condos and townhomes have been
strong, because they have been the lower price offset against detached
single family. The average sale price for condos and townhomes in July was
$179,484, down 4.7% from July 2003. It is not that the prices are dropping,
but rather low cost new construction is coming in and capturing demand. For
the year, the average sale price for condos and townhomes is down 0.8% from
the same year ago period, while closings are up over 22%. Through July 2004,
four of the seven months in 2004 have seen the average price drop from the
same year ago period.
The average price for single family detached in July was
another record at $252,567. As the price goes up for the single family
detached properties and the price goes down for condos and townhomes, one
can easily predict the very strong increases in condo and townhome sales.
Days-on-market was at 74.7 for all single family in July. This was an
increase of 0.3 days from the same year ago period and the first increase
since February. However, days-on-market usually does increase from June to
July, while last year it declined a very strong 3.3 days. The attached chart
for days-on-market illustrates this trend very well.
We have had a great real estate year so far in 2004. This is
also an election year, so interest rates should not be increased much and
all the economists have been predicting moderate growth into and through
2005.
Thank you,
Steve Palm
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© 2004 Smart Numbers
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September 2004
