Metro Atlanta’s luxury home market is poised for a solid year.
The most expensive residential sale in the works so far in 2013 is part of a 16-acre site in Roswell. Its owners are already celebrating the deal by living on a yacht for the rest of the year.
The home at 109 Goulding Place is under contract to an unknown developer for$6.9 million.
It features two homes, including one with roots dating back to the 1800s. “It will be preserved,” said Allison Kloster, who leads The Kloster Group at Harry Norman, Realtors. “The rest of the site is going to be redeveloped.”
Kloster expects the sale to close in December.
The pending transaction underscores demand in the highest end of Atlanta’s luxury home market, according to a review of market data compiled by top residential real estate firms and provided to Atlanta Business Chronicle. Homes that are both under contract and that have closed are included in the top 10 residential sales at the mid-point of 2013.
The data suggests ongoing strong momentum for the upper end of the housing market. The volume of homes listed at $2 million or greater has fallen more than 45 percent over the past three years, said Michael Rogers, president of Dorsey Alston, Realtors.
In Buckhead, 3015 Andrews Drive sold for $6.5 million, according to market data. The home, built in 1929 for the president of Georgia Power Co., is one of the best-known Buckhead estates.
“There aren’t many houses in Atlanta that are all stone,” said Keith Summerour, the architect behind earlier renovations to the property. “Maybe Rhodes Hall comes to mind. We found out the stone [for 3015 Andrews] had come from an old church in downtown Atlanta.”
Buckhead condo sales continue bouncing back.
Among the most notable transactions were two units at The St. Regis Residences that Rooms to Go CEO Jeffrey Seaman bought. They sold for more than $8.3 million, or an average of a little more than $4.1 million, according to market data.
Seaman bought one of the condos for himself and the other for when his kids would visit.
The luxury condo market is seeing steady sales, said Anne Schwall, with the SkyRise Group.
At the St. Regis, four sales – all at more than $750 a square foot – have been recorded since January. That’s the most at that price in one year since the building’s pre-sales in 2005, she said.
“The inventory of luxury condominiums is beginning to diminish just as condo inventory is in all price segments,” Schwall said.
The Ritz-Carlton Residences has one home remaining.
The Sovereign Buckhead, a condo tower at 3344 Peachtree, and the Aberdeen condo development, are both more than60 percent sold, she said.
The St. Regis condos were one of several transactions of at least $4 million in the top 10 sales.
Among those that have closed is 3450 Ridgewood Road, an 18,000-square-foot home that features a four-car garage, two pool pavilions and a regulation-sized indoor basketball court downstairs.
It sold for about $4.8 million, said broker Glennis Beacham, of Beacham & Company, Realtors.
Metro Atlanta’s luxury home market has recovered since 2008, when the steepest downturn in years affected metro Atlanta’s housing sector. Price reductions have played a role in the recovery.
“The number of listings in the $5 million-plus category has dropped 56 percent since this time last year,” said Dac Carver, vice president and managing broker with Beacham & Company.
Sales of homes priced between $2 million and $5 million have jumped 67 percent from 2012.
“Buyers have taken advantage of discounting,” Carver said.
Across metro Atlanta, many agents have seen multiple offers on houses listed at $500,000 or more, according to Harry Norman, Realtors. Two hundred forty-nine transactions in that price range occurred between January and May, a nearly 50 percent increase versus the same period in 2012.
In some parts of Atlanta, the housing market is experiencing something almost unimaginable just two years ago – a shortage of homes to buy.
In Buckhead, opportunities to find existing homes between $500,000 and$1 million are limited. Chances to find lots to build new homes are basically nonexistent. Jim Chapman Communities Inc. recently said it has nine homes in various stages of development in Buckhead. None are less than $1 million.
Top metro Atlanta home sales, first half of 2013
- 109 Goulding Place, $6.9 million, Roswell
- 3015 Andrews Drive, $6.5 million, Buckhead
- 3450 Ridgewood Road, $4.8 million, Buckhead
- 4700 Jett Road, $4.7 million, Buckhead
- St. Regis, units No. 2410 and No. 2430,
- $4.1 million average Buckhead
- 52 Blackland Road, $4 million, Buckhead
- 5250 London Drive, $3.9 million, Buckhead
- 1200 Bellaire Drive, $3.7 million, Brookhaven
- 7025 Carlisle Lane, $3.4 million, Alpharetta
- 350 Blackland Road, $3.4 million, Buckhead
Source: Beacham & Co.; Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty;Dorsey Alston, Realtors
