High-End Brokers Flock to Atlanta Housing Market

One of the world’s leading luxury-home brokers will stake its claim in the Atlanta housing market when real estate entrepreneur Jenny Pruitt opens the doors of her new brokerage in June.

Pruitt and International Sotheby’s Realty have announced their partnership in Pruitt’s new real estate firm, Atlanta Fine Homes.

This is Sotheby’s first partnership in metro Atlanta, although President and CEO Mike Good said he has been interested in the area for several years.

Atlanta’s reputation as a sleeping home sales giant has attracted a number of powerhouse companies primed to compete for its housing dollars.

Powered by affordable Georgia mortgage costs, the region is projected to grow by 2 million people over the next 25 years.

During the past 18 months, such recognized mortgage and real estate names as Trump, the Related Group, Levitt & Sons and Del Webb have entered Atlanta’s market, even as the national housing market dropped into a prolonged slump.

Good said Sotheby’s passed on previous opportunities to form an Atlanta area brokerage because the company was waiting for a partner that would burnish Sotheby’s prestige image in the local market.

“We are very focused on developing with the right organization, a quality organization,” Good said.

When Pruitt announced her intention last month to create a real estate firm with David Boehmig, the former president of Jenny Pruitt & Associates and her son-in-law, Sotheby’s knew it had found the perfect partner, Good said.

“They certainly stand for high integrity. They stand for delivering the highest standard in customer service,” Good said.

Pruitt founded the firm that bears her name and sold it to HomeServices of America in 2001. She retired from that firm in January.

Her new firm will carry both its local name, Atlanta Fine Homes, and Sotheby’s International Realty.

Established in 1976, Sotheby’s real estate operation, which is affiliated with the world-famous auction house, began as a “loose marketing network,” Good said.

Three years ago, the firm began its co-branding effort, creating a support network for marketing luxury properties worldwide by forming partnerships with local luxury home sellers.

Pruitt said Atlanta’s thriving economy makes it a logical choice for Sotheby’s.

“Atlanta has a lot of affluence, and sometimes it is very understated,” Pruitt said.

In the past two years, the number of homes selling for more than $1 million in metro Atlanta has doubled, as home mortgage seekers continue to find relative bargains in Georgia’s capital.

In 2006, the region posted 955 closings at that price point or above, compared with 476 in 2004.

Pruitt’s clients will have access to an international network as they try to boost sales among high-end Georgia home loan seekers.

“Through Sotheby’s International Realty, I think we can offer our clients unparalleled access to quality buyers from around the world,” Pruitt said.

SOURCE: Atlanta Journal-Constitution