The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), in collaboration with several internal departments and external contracting, recently published a new tool for assessing housing market dynamics around the metro area. The Metro Atlanta Housing Strategy Toolkit includes a mapping component displaying ten distinct submarkets in the 11-county Atlanta region. The submarkets are defined by identifying similar patterns of demographic and economic factors. The toolkit also features recommendations for possible housing policy strategies by area, such as preserving affordable units, increasing supply, and promoting housing stability.

ARC developed the toolkit to equip local governments and civic organizations with (1) data to understand factors impacting barriers to affordable housing and the dynamic forces at play presenting challenges for potential homeowners, and (2) initial strategy options to consider in addressing the barriers and challenges.

The submarkets shown in the mapping tool were built up out of Census tracts, by using a supervised learning technique to categorize each tract as urban or suburban based on land use. The research also incorporates home sales data from ATTOM Data Solutions aggregated to the tract level as well as several Census variables. For more detail on the methodology, including a template of the Python notebook used in the analysis, see our GitHub repo here.

The map below shows the 11 metro counties divided into the ten submarkets, each shown in a different color. Click on the map below or here to access the mapping tool.

Explore the interactive map for information on the ten submarkets and the accompanying policy recommendations for each. You can also search for a specific county or city in the search bar, as shown in the example below:

As a research example, querying data for the city of Douglasville returns the following housing information:

  • A median home sale price in 2023 of $308,450, corresponding to a median sale price per square foot of $163.00;
  • An increase of 60% in the median home sale price since 2018;
  • A median home size of 1,768 square feet for all homes sold in the city in 2023
  • Nearly half (49%) of the city lies within Submarket 8, which is titled “Below-Median Priced Suburban Employment Corridors & Town Centers”

And if you are curious to learn more about this specific submarket and what it means for Douglasville, you can click on the “Learn more” link as shown below:

This page will provide you with helpful information describing Submarket 8, including a full definition and characteristics of this submarket across the metro area. The “Learn more” page highlighted above also features additional housing price metrics, strategies and suggested action steps for civic leaders in this submarket. A few of these strategies include:

  • Identify targeted areas appropriate for higher density;
  • Support smaller homes and ownership opportunities;
  • Create preservation programs and partnerships; and
  • Establish local housing funding resources and programs. (among many others)