Submitted by Andrea Cueny, REALTOR®
The median price for existing homes sold in metro Atlanta grew 2.4 percent in November compared to the year before, according to data released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors.
The median price in the metro area was up to $129,300 from 126,300 in November 2008, NAR said. Sales volume was up 33 percent over November 2008, one of the deepest months in the recession.
The increase in price is the first since 2008, according to the data.
Nationally, existing home sales 7.4 percent last month, the NAR said, as first-time homebuyers closed deals before the Nov. 30 expiration of the federal tax credit, which was recently extended and expanded. The pace is 44.1 percent higher than November 2008.
“This clearly is a rush of first-time buyers not wanting to miss out on the tax credit, but there are many more potential buyers who can enter the market in the months ahead,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said in a statement. “We expect a temporary sales drop while buying activity ramps up for another surge in the spring when buyers take advantage of the expanded tax credit, which hopefully will take us into a self-sustaining market in the second half of 2010. In all, 4.4 million households are expected to claim the tax credit before it expires and balance should be restored to the housing sector with inventories continuing to decline.”
Please click here for the entire story on the Atlanta Business Chronicle about Atlanta home prices