So, you’ve decided to buy a house in Atlanta. This is an exciting move, but one that’s going to take some thought and planning.
Whether you’re a longtime resident looking to move into a nicer place or a recent transplant, you’re getting involved in a very active real estate market. How quickly you find a great place to live may depend on the approach you take to being a homebuyer.
But of course, the speed of your Atlanta house search isn’t the most important part: This is a home you’ll hopefully live in for years to come, so you have to make sure you find the perfect match for your needs, with no underlying issues that could make your stay uncomfortable or require lots of work once you’ve moved in.
With that said, it’s time to dive into the state of the Atlanta housing market. By learning what’s driving demand for houses in the area, and the patterns of pricing and availability, you can set yourself up to land in the perfect new home.
Navigating the Atlanta real estate market
While 2020 was a year of disruption and instability in many ways, that didn’t mean people stopped buying and selling houses. Atlanta’s real estate sector stayed red hot, with buying and selling activity keeping up a torrid pace.
Waiting for a market cooldown: Bad idea?
While there might be some temptation to wait for a “normal” period in the market, that plan may not work out as you’re hoping. After all, data processed by the Atlanta Real Estate Forum reveals that the last time the Atlanta market expanded at a normal rate was in 2002, 20 years ago.
Constant increases in housing demand have coupled with a decrease in new construction — caused by supply chain strain in the wake of COVID-19. What does this mean for your home search? In practical terms, you may be one buyer competing with plenty of others.
Being a buyer in a seller’s market doesn’t have to be stressful or hectic, provided you take a smart approach. For example, if you choose to purchase your next home through Bungalo, making an offer becomes one seamless step — no bidding wars or tension about whether your offer has been accepted. And with all renovations already taken care of, there’s no worries about constrained supply chains preventing essential work.
The most intense period of housing demand may have been the fall of 2020. The Atlanta Business Chronicle pointed out a few shocking estimates that show just how hot the housing market was during those months: Homes were selling in 16 days on the market, with two-thirds of 2020 homebuyers making their initial offers before touring the house in person.
That real estate fervor may have dimmed a little, but the factors that have driven it are still in play — supply of homes is limited, mortgage loan interest rate averages are low, and younger first-time homebuyers are interested in making purchases.
New construction prepares to ramp up
While builders have recently been constrained by a lack of reliable supply chains, building will continue for years to come around the Atlanta metro era — considering the population growth going on, it simply has to.
Housing inventory in Atlanta grew 33% between May and July 2021, but the Atlanta Real Estate Forum noted that this only raised the available supply of houses from 0.7 months to one month.
A single month of supply is still the mark of a red-hot real estate market. That’s bad news if you were hoping for a slow and leisurely stroll through the home buying process. In another way, however, it’s reassuring — your decision to move to Atlanta is backed by thousands of other people making the same choice. The city and its neighboring areas are experiencing real estate boom times, and homeowners are excited to be there.
To make the most of new construction, you can buy through Bungalo. Newly built houses are coming to the Bungalo inventory, providing a promising way to gain a foothold in the fast-paced Atlanta real estate market.
Pick your ideal area of the city
Finding the right Atlanta area for you revolves around a few questions — what kind of commute are you looking for? In just about every part of the city or its surrounding suburbs, you’ll be driving. U.S. News & World Report points out that Atlanta is a car-centric city, with the downtown core served by streetcars and some light rail reaching the rest of the area.
Commutes from the north of downtown tend to be shorter than those from the south. If you plan to fly out of the city fairly often, however, the south has its own attraction — proximity to the large and busy Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The city is ringed with a variety of suburbs and attractions ranging from natural wonders to a Six Flags amusement park. Your perfect location in or around the Atlanta area will depend on what kind of balance you want in life — bustling vs. calm, skyscrapers vs. trees, long drives vs. buses and trains. To Atlanta’s credit, the metro area can give you all of these experiences and more.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle adds that more than one homeowner rearranged their priorities during the era of widespread pandemic shutdowns and working from home. Being confined to one’s house is more comfortable when it’s a larger single-family home with room to spread out, potentially in the suburbs.
You can keep your eyes open for the long tail of this trend, with some of those roomier houses potentially off the market — or maybe some going back on as the appeal of downtown Atlanta and the city nightlife peaks again. As the appeal of various Atlanta neighborhood areas ebbs and flows, you’ll need to keep a close eye on listings to find a house that checks all your boxes.
Living in Atlanta
What will you discover in Atlanta once you’ve signed the documents and moved into your new home? Those already from Atlanta know what the city has to offer, but what if you’re coming in from further out?
If you’re moving in from out of state, your first surprise may be a very positive one. Despite the ever-rising population and hot housing market, U.S. News & World Report found that Atlanta has a low cost of living for a city its size. With reasonable prices for everyday items, your dollars can go further in Georgia.
Another fun surprise for transplants from further north is the mild winters. An average winter temperature of 45.3 degrees Fahrenheit may affect your house hunting. There’s less need to find a house that will be easy to dig out of a snowstorm or heat on a subzero morning in the warm Georgia climate. As for the summers? You may want to find central air conditioning — the average summer temperature is 79 degrees Fahrenheit.
Living in Atlanta also means being close to cultural and arts venues, as well as plenty of sports. MLB, NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLS. If you’re coming from a less populated area, you’ll soon realize that Atlanta is a true city with all the attractions you could want. A zoo, an aquarium, numerous parks, and outdoor spaces — they’re all present and accounted for.
When you add in the number of well-loved restaurants and historical sites in and around Atlanta, you’re looking at an exciting place to live, whether you’re moving there for your job or simply heading to the city to start your next chapter.
Speeding up the real estate buying process
So, you want to move to a new home while navigating a historically hot Georgia real estate market. How can you make sure the home sale process isn’t too difficult and stressful? You can try Bungalo.
Bungalo homes have been thoughtfully renovated by our in-house design and construction teams, pre-inspected, and certified by experts. This means everything from the structure to electricity to HVAC has been checked out. If a covered issue comes up unexpectedly in your first 90 days, you have full protection.
Perhaps most relevant for the scorching Atlanta real estate market, you don’t have to compete in buyer bidding wars when you make a Bungalo offer. With a mortgage lender preapproval letter in hand, you submit your documents online. If the offer is accepted, that’s it — you’re in.
Bungalo listed homes are visible on a user-friendly map view. Just type in the city you’re looking for — in this case, Atlanta — and you’ll immediately see what’s on the market, the approximate home value of each, and where they’re located.
By taking away the complex and tension-building parts of real estate, you can end up with just the fun of it, seeking out your dream home in an exciting city. Start looking now.
This article is meant for informational purposes only and is not intended to be construed as financial, tax, legal, real estate, insurance, or investment advice. Bungalo always encourages you to reach out to an advisor regarding your own situation.
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