Atlanta Business Chronicle by Anne Schwall , Sky Rise Group/ Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty

Anne Schwall, Vice President, Sky Rise Group
Anne Schwall, Vice President, Sky Rise Group

If one were to ask an Atlantan what they thought of the Atlanta condominium market they would probably describe how most of us feel after the holidays — overextended, satiated and fat.

Not a surprising reaction with the number of condos that flooded the Atlanta market at the height of the real estate boom. In 2007, Atlanta had a whopping 13,000 condos for sale in 137 condo projects in the Buckhead, Midtown and downtown markets — enough to make anyone think condominiums were a bad investment.

However as we examine what has happened to the condo market over the past four years, it has been extremely resilient, albeit with the help of major price reductions and the halt of any new developments.

The 2012 outlook for the condo market is much leaner and tighter. Of the 16 in town high-rise condominium developments that began closings since 2007, eight of these projects have sold over 50 percent of their inventory and six of these projects including Gallery, Luxe, and Twelve Centennial Park have fewer than 20 homes available.

Three of the projects, Aqua, Terminus and Viewpoint are completely sold out.

These 16 high-rise condominium projects represented 3,029 of the available condos in 2007. As of December 2011, there are only 546 available condominiums in these 16 buildings, an 82 percent reduction in available inventory.

Recently the remaining condo homes at the Atlantic were put under contract to be sold to Miami based development company, Crescent Heights    , and many speculate these remaining homes will turn into rentals.

The lack of available construction financing for new condominium projects has local developers turning their attention on the start of new apartment buildings for Atlanta’s future skyline.

Apartment rentals seem to be the future for Atlanta’s in town housing market. The Chinese Zodiac for 2012 is the year of the dragon. In Chinese Astrology dragon people excel.

With the shrinking supply of available condo inventory, I am predicting the same robust outcome for the Atlanta condo market for 2012.

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