From the AJC:

Demand for condominiums in intown Atlanta has “evaporated,” with just 66 new units sold in the second half of 2008, according to Haddow & Co., a local real estate consulting firm that’s been studying the condo market since 1999.

That’s an 88 percent dropoff from the number of units sold in the first half of 2008. Just 645 new condos sold all of last year — 76 percent below the annual average of the previous eight years.

“Interest rates are very low, prices are falling, product availability is enormous, but closings are scarce,” the report says. “In the words of one observer, ‘we have a buyer’s market with no buyers.’”

The numbers are chilling for a company like the Novare Group, which is scheduled to open the Atlantic condo tower at Atlantic Station in June. The 46-story luxury high-rise will have 401 units, 27 percent of which are under contract. But how many of those contracts will actually close remains to be seen.

Novare did not respond to a request to comment.

The Haddow report also says the condo “resale market faltered in the first half of 2008 and has still not recovered.” Resales plummeted 44.2 percent last year compared to 2007 and the average sales price declined 11.6 percent.

66 sales over 6 months. That is not a lot.

66, originally uploaded by dug_da_bug.