Has Atlanta's Rental Prices Quietly Become Very High? (Snellville, Covington: houses, buy)

[trouillot]

Originally Posted by gjb01

Sure there are sections of every northern ATL burb where all the houses are over $1 million, but all those burbs also have really nice $400-$500K houses. And a fair amount of them.

$400-$500K homes are not affordable for many with half decent incomes who really want to become a homeowner and not a renter. There is a huge market for homes in the $250-$300K price range. Most that were selling for that, have risen to $295-$350K within a relatively short time period. Checkout how much credit debt has risen to in this country. Sooner or later somethings got to give. Many beginning their house hunting today did not live through a big economic turn down as an adult.


As many in area in/around Atlanta, have noticed groupings of signs along roads advertising new homes in housing developments at various prices. Have noticed in recent years many of these signs replaced with updated prices 10-15% higher than 7-10 months ago. Not that this cost hike is Atlanta-area specific, as have seen same thing throughout the country.


Rental prices have certainly climbed, and it's same story all over many parts of the country. Landlords/investors operate off whatever market will bear. Suspect many would do same if they were in the position to capitalize off the rising rental prices. What gets me, is some of the games developers and government play to raze old home tracts within certain areas for new much pricier housing where the primary benefactor are the developers and local governments, not the community at large. Look at some of the beltway controversies with new development and the games being played out there.

[Beretta]

Let's keep this thread on the topic at hand. Thanks!

[citidata18]

Originally Posted by trouillot

As many in area in/around Atlanta, have noticed groupings of signs along roads advertising new homes in housing developments at various prices. Have noticed in recent years many of these signs replaced with updated prices 10-15% higher than 7-10 months ago. Not that this cost hike is Atlanta-area specific, as have seen same thing throughout the country.

Or, as is the case on this side of town (Newnan), the only housing developments going up now are apartments because the local population (given the quality of jobs being created) can no longer afford the type of homes builders want to supply. And it's been a literal explosion of them too. Right now there are about 6 of them with 300+ units each in various stages of planning / construction.

As these multi-family housing complexes age over the next 10-20 years, it will interesting to see what the impacts of building so many of them will be.

[ronricks]

Why are people surprised at rising prices when the jobs market is so strong the economy is strong and the stock market is at all time highs? Should we just go back to 2009-2010 when lots of folks were out of work and the housing and rental market and stock market was in the crapper?

[TallDee]

Houses with a price tag of 250,000 brand new or remodeled are usually in areas you wouldn’t want
to live.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by ronricks

Why are people surprised at rising prices when the jobs market is so strong the economy is strong and the stock market is at all time highs? Should we just go back to 2009-2010 when lots of folks were out of work and the housing and rental market and stock market was in the crapper?

The housing market is about supply and demand and right now demand is far outpacing supply, which is just as much of a problem as supply outpacing demand (such as during the great recession).

Basically Atlanta metro is holding supply on a leash in fear of what happened when Real Estate attempted to take over as a primary economic sector during the Great Recession in thus crashing leaving several developments uninhabited or completely haulted mid-construction.

You can have a great economy and still affordable living with the right inventory, but that also typically requires densification. Atlanta proper is seemingly addressing this. Some suburban nodes however do not seem as apt towards it. California for example, their housing is not expensive because of all of the high end jobs they possess, but because the major cities Los Angeles and San Francisco are very strict upon placing dense developments thus catering to low density nodes and the (practically) millionaires who own them.

Note that there is no perfect balance, as the market shifts, demand shifts, and so will supply. Finding the sweet spot is difficult in a major city.

[mosborne39]

Thanks for the responses so far. It seems the best bang for your buck here is 20- 30 miles outside of Atlanta, especially east and west of the city. I see reasonable prices in places like Douglasville to the west and Conyers/Covington to the east. I know Covington is closer to 40 miles from Atlanta BTW. I'm just thinking about this now as I'm in my early 40's and my daughter is about to go away to college. I'm thinking if Atlanta is where I want to be permanently or if I should consider other metro areas the same size or larger. LA, Houston, South Florida, maybe Phoenix are all areas I am considering.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by mosborne39

Thanks for the responses so far. It seems the best bang for your buck here is 20- 30 miles outside of Atlanta, especially east and west of the city. I see reasonable prices in places like Douglasville to the west and Conyers/Covington to the east. I know Covington is closer to 40 miles from Atlanta BTW. I'm just thinking about this now as I'm in my early 40's and my daughter is about to go away to college. I'm thinking if Atlanta is where I want to be permanently or if I should consider other metro areas the same size or larger. LA, Houston, South Florida, maybe Phoenix are all areas I am considering.

The main issue and reasons those areas are much more affordable is because of how far and difficult it is to commute to a job hub from those areas given I-20 on both sides hasn't really seen much in the way of capacity increases in several decades. Conyers and Covington have also taken a huge downturn in the last few decades in terms of crime and quality of life. I think Douglasville is still okay in this area. Also their schooling systems are vastly overshadowed by Gwinnett, N.Fulton, Decatur, ect.

[PKCorey]

The rent isn't much cheaper in Snellville, Conyers or Covington. Both counties have more single family stock so the rent is nearing around $1,100-$1,400 for a single family house now.

[mosborne39]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

The main issue and reasons those areas are much more affordable is because of how far and difficult it is to commute to a job hub from those areas given I-20 on both sides hasn't really seen much in the way of capacity increases in several decades. Conyers and Covington have also taken a huge downturn in the last few decades in terms of crime and quality of life. I think Douglasville is still okay in this area. Also their schooling systems are vastly overshadowed by Gwinnett, N.Fulton, Decatur, ect.

Yeah Conyers has definitely changed the last 15 years. Douglasville does appear nicer but I bet prices increase there soon as well. I'm even surprised how much Carrollton has grown.