Atlanta continued to set the world on fire with its rise in asking prices

Asking prices in Atlanta began 2015 on a soaring note, according to the Trulia Price Monitor. Prices were up a whopping 16.2 percent year-over-year in January – good for the best in the nation – and they rose 7.0 percent quarterly, also the best in the nation; meanwhile, rents continued their ascent, climbing 6.6 percent from a year ago.

Home Prices Slow Nationally as Market Changes

Meanwhile, home prices on the national stage continued to show signs of moderation. From December to January, asking prices rose 0.5 percent, which was the slowest monthly increase since August; similarly, January’s yearly gain of 7.5 percent was down from Jan. 2014’s 9.3 percent increase.

Going forward, the most important driver for home prices, according to Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko, will be local job growth, which is certainly in line with our reporting. As Kolko explained, that represents a 180-degree turn on how the housing recovery previously progressed.

“For much of the recovery, the rebound effect was more closely tied to local price gains than job growth was,” Kolko said. “But today, things have reversed: Job growth is now much more important than the rebound effect. As home prices have increased and gotten close to long-term normal levels, and as investors and foreclosure sales have become a smaller part of housing activity, fundamental drivers of housing demand – like job growth – have taken over again.”

And given how strong Atlanta’s economy will be in 2015, such price increases are hardly surprising.

Take a look at our graph below for a broader take on asking prices increases: