The January 2022 Market Brief, compiled by First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS), provides a regionally focused synopsis of monthly sales and home prices for residential properties in Metro Atlanta. This summary covers 11 counties: Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Paulding and Rockdale.

Demand: January residential sales were at 4,289, a decrease of 8.8% from the previous year.

Price: Average and median sales prices continue to outpace 2021’s figures, with positive gains. The median sales price in January was $375,000, an increase of 23.0% from last January. The average sales price was $438,500, up 16.9% from the previous year.

Supply: Atlanta area housing inventory totaled 6,240 units in January, a decrease of 24.2% from January 2021. New listings totaled 6,166, down 12.3% from January 2021 and up 24.1% from the previous month. The month’s supply over a 12-month period decreased to 0.9 months.

A Word from 2022 Atlanta REALTORS® President Karen Hatcher:

“It’s worth noting that 2022 will be the first year of somewhat normalized data, in that it’s not being compared to 2020,” notes Atlanta REALTORS® Association President Karen Hatcher.

“Carrying over from the strong trend at the end of last year, sales continue to show year over year decline as the inventory that’s making it to the market just isn’t sufficient to meet demand,” stated Hatcher. “With inventory continuously falling short, prices are naturally going to keep increasing,” Hatcher warns buyers. “It’s going to take a long time for supply to catch up, which means it’s only going to get more expensive to buy, not less.”

“For anyone considering buying or selling in the coming year, it’s going to be especially important to plan carefully,” cautions Hatcher, adding that although it may seem straightforward, it’s not a time to try to go it alone. We expect more consumers to choose to work with a professional REALTOR® as the market gets increasingly nuanced throughout this year.

The data in this report was compiled by First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS). For more information on details of this month’s report, please contact the Association at 404.250.0051.

*Each month, the numbers reported for the previous month are updated to reflect additional recordings.