LOOKING BACK AT 2022, A YEAR OF CHANGE

2022 started strong in the housing market with homes selling as soon as they hit the market. Home prices continued to grow for much of the year, by June home prices had appreciated 16.9% nationally. However, as interest rates started rising the housing market began to respond. The change wasn’t immediate, but after consecutive rate rises, the increased cost of home ownership took some heat out of the market as we saw homes slowly begin to take longer to sell. Multiple offer scenarios became less common through the second half of the year and price growth slowed as the housing market demonstrated signs of returning to pre-pandemic normality. Even though it became a little harder to sell a house, in the final quarter of 2022, the average time to sell a home in Atlanta was only 33 days. While longer than prior months, this sales window was still 30% shorter than the same quarter in pre-pandemic 2019.

Home Prices

Across 2022 most markets experienced notable home value increases, with the national average home price rising 8.6% from the previous year, as the national median price for single-family homes reached $398,500. Individual markets varied, some seeing double digit annual increases, including Atlanta which experienced an annual average sale price increase of 12%, and the median price for single-family homes averaged $396,000 for the year.

In Atlanta home prices spiked across the second quarter of 2022, with active listings reaching a median asking price of $460,000 in June. At the close of the year (Dec 2022) the market cool down saw the median listed price in Atlanta of $410,000, and in the same month the median sold price was $368,000.

Looking forward, with much dependent on inflation and future interest rate movements, 2023 national pricing predictions offer limited certainty. Across a range of housing market forecasts there is a mix of price movement forecasts ranging from price declines of -4% to increases of 5%.