Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted purchase index declined 6% from the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in June came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
1,598,000, down 5.1 % from the revised May rate of 1,683,000, but 23.3% above the year-ago rate of 1,296,000.

July’s reading of 80 was down one point from June, but still signaled strong demand for housing, the National Association of Home Builders said.

During the four-week period ended July 11, the average weekly share of homes for sale with a price drop passed 4% for the first time since September 2020.

Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted purchase index rose 8% from the previous week.

Adjectives reflecting the desire for privacy and physical isolation gained a place of prominence: “private,” “covered,” “quiet,” “separate” and “enclosed” were among the top 100 most-used description terms.

The competitive homebuying market showed signs of loosening up last month as bidding wars dropped from May despite being higher than they were a year ago. 

It could take Atlanta-area renters more than seven years to save for a down payment in today’s market.

Rents in Atlanta jumped 13.2% year over year in May.

Sales volume rose 10.8% month over month to $3.46 billion, while the number of units sold rose 8.2% over the same period, to 8,230.

Millennials were once referred to as the “renter generation” because of their preference for apartment living in urban areas over purchasing a home in the suburbs like their Baby Boomer parents.

Housing markets across the country saw new listings growth in June, as the median list price hit yet another all-time high, and Atlanta was no exception. 

Strong growth of single-family construction spending drove the increase, while spending on multifamily construction was flat, the National Association of Home Builders said.

The median age of construction workers is 41, the same as a typical worker in the national labor force, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ analysis of the most recent 2019 American Community Survey data.

“May’s strong increase in transactions — following April’s decline, as well as a sudden erosion in home affordability — was indeed a surprise. The housing market is attracting buyers due to the decline in mortgage rates, which fell below 3%, and from an uptick in listings.” — NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun

In Atlanta, the index rose 1.7% month over month and 12.3% year over year. The monthly increase was slightly down from the 1.8% rise recorded in March.