Atlanta Real Estate Report | April 2020

Now that the state of Georgia is reopening and the weather is improving, you may be wondering if you can start or restart your home search process. While many key real estate metrics (such as the number of homes sold) were down significantly in April compared with the same time last year, there are signs of improvement in the air…

The number of new listings in Atlanta has increased modestly each week since April 20, indicating that sellers are beginning to list their homes for sale as the state reopens. Of the homes that Orchard owns, the average number of showings per week has also started to climb, indicating buyer interest is present and starting to pick back up.

There are some caveats though:

For buyers, there are fewer homes on the market heading into May, as many sellers took their homes off the market in March and April or did not list them. It’s likely that more relaxed stay-at-home requirements will continue to encourage more sellers to enter the market, but you may have fewer options to choose from as would be typical heading into the summer home-buying season.

On the flip side, there have also been fewer buyers overall, which may mean reduced competition when putting in a bid on your dream home.

For sellers, the good news is that median home prices have remained stable during the pandemic. This suggests that most sellers are receiving offers close to their original list price. The average number of days a home is listed on the market before selling (DOM) is slightly up from 18 days in April 2019 to 21 days in April 2020. This suggests that most sellers don’t have to wait too much longer to receive an offer.

Social distancing measures (six-foot distance, gloves, masks, thorough cleaning between showings, etc.) will also still need to be implemented when anyone visits your home. With Orchard’s Buy & Sell service, we’ll take care of deep cleaning and listing your home after you move, so you can skip the stress of home showings.

For a deeper dive into the Atlanta area’s real estate recap for April 2020, read on.

April Market Snapshot

8,240

New listings in April. Although down 33.5% from this month last year, listings have started to pick back up. With over 2,100 new listings posted the week of April 27, weekly new listings are not near pre-coronavirus levels yet, but are climbing back towards them.

97.1%

The median percentage of a home’s original list price that it ended up selling for. This suggests that sellers haven’t had to make big price cuts in order to get their home sold.

-28.3%

Decrease in homes that went under contract this April vs. last year. With fewer homes on the market and shelter-in-place orders in effect for most of the month, April was a much slower month for home sales. However, activity picked up in the last three weeks of the month, nearing early March (pre-coronavirus) levels.

Our Perspective

“While activity has slowed, it’s never stopped. We put several clients’ new homes under contract in April and are meeting with new buyers and sellers more and more each day. There’s continued to be strong buyer interest, which has resulted in sellers getting their full asking price or close to it.”

— Louise Bannister, Orchard Home Advisor

Listings Spotlight

1674 Harlington Rd., Smyrna

Just Listed!

Know which feature is most important to you in your new home?

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