If the first two months of the year are any indication, the Metro Atlanta housing market is in good shape for 2016

February proved a universally strong month for housing in the 11-county Metro Atlanta area, according to the latest numbers from the Atlanta Board of Realtors.

According to ABR’s stats, residential sales in Metro Atlanta rose 14.3 percent from January to February and 6.1 percent from Feb. 2015, ending the month at 3,246 sales. Additionally, the median sales price of $216,000 was up 4.4 percent year-over-year, while the average sales price of $273,000 was up 4.6 percent.

Lane McCormack, ABR’s president, stated in the association’s report that February’s numbers bode well for the 2016 market.

“The February report proves that the housing market is in great shape for 2016,” McCormack said. “The steady increase in prices is anticipated with the tight inventory supply in Atlanta. We are expecting this upward trend to continue, both in price and sales as we progress through spring.”

Supply Issues Persist

The one worrying aspect of Metro Atlanta’s housing market continues to be its shortage of inventory. In February, Atlanta’s housing inventory totaled 13,046 units, a decrease of 1.5 percent from January and 4.2 percent from Feb. 2015. Currently, inventory is at a 3.0-months supply, or half of where it should be.

And for the time being, there is no relief on the way. Although ABR did track a 2.3 percent increase in new listings from January to February, the total of 4,196 is still down 5.6 percent from a year ago.

Gwinnett Leads Atlanta’s Counties

Finally, ABR also broke down the sales in Metro Atlanta’s largest counties, and once again, Gwinnett was the area’s top-selling county with 687 sales.

Here is a breakdown of how the counties fared: