In early 2023, the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association welcomed its newly elected executive committee, which is helmed by President Maurice Lester, who serves as vice President of Construction for JW Collection. In a recent letter to the association, he shared his excitement and enthusiasm not only for the opportunity to serve in the role, but also for metro Atlanta’s new home market. He wrote:

“I am grateful and honored to be the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association 2023 president as together we continue to strengthen the economy, the industry, the communities we serve and our members’ businesses. Thanks to the strong leadership of association, the Home Builders Association of Georgia and the National Association of Home Builders, we are doing everything in our power to create an environment for a healthy housing market.”

And it is a healthy market, indeed. According to John Hunt, founder and president of MarketNsight, which provides on-demand research and analysis for homebuilders, developers, real estate brokers and investors, while the pandemic and subsequent Federal Reserve interest rate hikes designed to fight inflation put a damper on the local market for a bit of time, it appears to be rebounding and showing signs of great improvement in 2023. As he notes:

• MarketNsight forecasts that 13,000 to 15,000 lots will be put on the ground by homebuilders this year across the 26-county metro area.

• Outlying metro counties are seeing increased sales traffic since buyers can now work from anywhere and are looking for affordability and desirable amenities in these areas.

• While increased housing demand burned off many lots that builders had to build on during the pandemic, there is a concerted effort to replace the supply. MarketNsight sees an upward trend for permitting as new deals come online this year and are expected to continue through 2023.

• Across metro Atlanta, there is very little resale inventory because people are locked into their three percent mortgage rates and don’t want to give them up for rates at six percent or above. New homes are more readily available, and builders have the ability to offer incentives to buyers who are relocating to Atlanta. All told, new home market shares have exploded in the first quarter of 2023, and the number was up 89 percent in March over 2022.

While there is much work to be done, Lester looks forward to seeing what the metro Atlanta new home market can do during his tenure. KNOWAtlanta congratulates him on his appointment and is equally excited to see everything that home buyers will be able to access throughout this year and beyond.

For more information, visit: Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and MarketNsight.