June is National Homeownership Month, so we are taking a moment to recognize this significant step towards building generational wealth. But as many metro Atlantans know, that journey isn’t always easy. Across the region (and country) homeownership has faced some serious headwinds. Today, we’ll dive into data from the Federal Reserve and Redfin to see how market forces have been impacting Atlantans’ ability to purchase a home since 2021.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 lockdowns, demand for housing spiked and homes were disappearing from the market at breakneck speeds. Fast-forward to today, and this market trend has slowed to a great degree. The result is a market that reflects both challenges and opportunities for aspiring homeowners.
Figure 1 below uses data1 to show a paradox of metro Atlanta’s recent housing story: while home sales volume has steadily declined across the metro since 2021, prices (as expressed in price per square foot) have been trending up. The decline in sales volume could point towards fewer families successfully completing home purchases, but we haven’t sen a collapse in pricing in response. This suggests we’re not witnessing a market crash in the metro (at least, not yet), but a market driven by affordability constraints that have fundamentally altered who can participate in homeownership.
Figure 2 below illuminates one of the culprits in the phenomenon we see above: as 30-year mortgage rates2 climbed from pandemic-era lows near 2.5% to peaks above 7% in late 2023, the percentage of homes in metro Atlanta that were snatched up within two weeks has dramatically fallen. In the height of the home-buying frenzy in the summers of 2021 and 2022, over 50% of for-sale homes in metro Atlanta disappeared within 14 days. By late 2024, that figure had fallen to just one in seven. The latest available data for the first quarter of 2025 show that this percentage is up to around 30% but still well below the peak of 2021 and 2022.
What we are seeing across the metro is the emergence of a new reality for metro Atlanta homeownership. Higher rates plus higher prices leads to a smaller pool of qualified buyers. Those who remain in the market, whether cash buyers, high-income families, or investors, face less competition, which is one reason why we haven’t seen prices retreat despite reduced demand.
For first-time buyers, that’s a mixed bag. The good news is that homes are sitting on the market longer, which gives prospective buyers latitude to plan, negotiate, and inspect. This was not the case just a few years ago. But the downside remains: many of these homes are still priced out of reach for many potential homeowners in metro Atlanta.
As National Homeownership Month reminds us, owning a home is about more than just having a roof over your head. It’s about having security, stability, and opportunity. While the path to homeownership has rapidly evolved since the height of the pandemic, understanding the dynamics shaping today’s market is the first step in navigating it.
Notes
[1] Source: Redfin, a national real estate brokerage.
[2] Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Image Source: XpertSource.com.