John Hunt with ViaSearch discussed demographic trends at the Atlanta Housing Summit. He says to sell real estate it is time to go back to basics and really focus on product, price, place, promotion and target audience.  Here is a brief overview of  home buyer demographics in the Atlanta new home market:

$150,000 is the new $250,000 in Atlanta.

First-time homebuyers in Atlanta have always been the number one home buying category in Atlanta.  We priced them out of the market; however, now that prices have dropped to pre 2003 prices, the first time home buyers are back! Currently 43% of all buyers are first time home buyers.

Now 55 and up couples with no children also make up a large percentage of buyers. This buyer does not want to be labeled as an active adult buyer; however, they are more willing to buy in an age-restricted community now.

Atlanta is a great place to live and we are “cheap.” We have very seasonal trends with transferees (relos). Currently this number is trending down. We see many more people choosing to rent before they buy, and we are seeing more people using professional relocation services when they are transferred.

Presales vs Spec. Atlanta is a spec market, we are not going to turn into a presale market. We have a lot of specs to sell and we are burning through that inventory. We are about to run out of inventory. Very seasonal, most specs sell in the spring.