Hotlanta Rising

Homes are appreciating in value and selling faster in Atlanta than in the rest of the country, according to new data analyzing annual median sale prices.

Some of this hotness is being attributed to more homebuyers looking to move inland from the coasts to more affordable markets. Atlanta home prices grew 4.8 percent year-over-year to the median $229,000 in January 2019, the seventh year of price appreciation. Meanwhile, Redfin's data show that West Coast markets known for their hotness--San Francisco, Seattle--are cooling off. San Francisco's median sale price growth dropped 5 percent, and Seattle's fell to 0.6 percent annually.

“Atlanta is probably the nation’s hottest large market,” Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said yesterday during the company’s earnings call, “continuing a trend favoring affordable, diverse and builder friendly cities.”

Of the markets Redfin serves, Atlanta was the 11th most competitive market in January, ahead of Washington, D.C. and not far behind Boston and Seattle.

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