Where in Atlanta Is It Toughest to Buy a Home Right Now? A ZIP Code Breakdown

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To say that Atlanta is having a moment would be an understatement. The de facto capital of the south has become about as important to the country’s cultural, social, and political atmosphere as nearly any city in the country. 

Enormous projects, from the citywide Beltline project to copious amounts of new construction along the west side, have transformed wide swaths of Atlanta. And the COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the development of nearby suburbs, where more walkable and accessible downtown areas lure growing families that have been priced out of denser city neighborhoods. 

These changes, coupled with an historically hot housing market across the country, have made Atlanta’s residential real estate market markedly less affordable and more competitive compared to just a year ago. 

Where exactly has Atlanta changed most drastically over the last year? These maps show which Atlanta ZIP codes have seen the largest increases in both prices and competitiveness since mid-2020.  

Key takeaways: How Atlanta has changed this past year 

  • Prices are rising everywhere: Though these maps show what parts of Atlanta have changed the most, it’s important to note that all of Atlanta is seeing rising prices: Every one of the 104 ZIP codes we analyzed saw an increase in median home sale prices over the past year. 
  • Norcross, GA experienced the biggest increase in median home sale prices: This northern suburb of Atlanta underwent a 41% increase in median sale prices. ZIP codes that map to the eastern suburb Stone Mountain and the southern suburb of Rex rounded out the top three. 
  • ZIP codes near the center of the city became the most competitive: Using “DOM” (the number of days a home stays on the market on average), we can see how much faster homes sold compared to the previous year. ZIP codes that experienced the biggest decrease in median DOM tended to cluster near the center of Atlanta, in areas such as College Park, East Point, Lakewood Heights, and Midtown. 
  • Eastern Atlanta had the biggest rise in price per square foot: Neighborhoods on Atlanta’s east side, stretching to the suburbs in Stone Mountain and Conyers, saw prices per square foot jump by as much as 76%. 
  • The busiest ZIP code in the Atlanta area was 30062: This ZIP code, which maps to Marietta, had 325 single-family home transactions over the past year. The average number of transactions among all ZIP codes analyzed: 137. 

The Atlanta ZIP codes with the biggest change in sale price

As mentioned above, all Atlanta-area ZIP codes saw at least some jump in median sale prices when comparing June-August of 2021 with the same time frame in 2020. But ZIP codes that map to areas such as Norcross, Stone Mountain, Rex, Alpharetta, and Conyers saw the biggest rise.

ZIP
code
Median sales price:
June-Aug 2020
Median sales price:
June-Aug 2021
Percent
change*
30071$245,000$345,00041%
30083$174,000$242,52339%
30273$155,050$215,00039%
30009$431,500$590,00037%
30013$205,000$279,00036%
30002$402,750$547,22736%
30274$130,000$176,00035%
30318$295,000$399,00035%
30314$185,000$249,50035%
30035$170,000$229,00035%

The Atlanta ZIP codes with the biggest change in days on market

Like many housing markets across the country, Atlanta has seen a home buying frenzy develop over the past year. From June-August of 2020, the median DOM across all ZIP codes we measured averaged out to 15 days. That number has dropped to just 6 days as of August 2021. In 86 of our ZIP codes, homes stayed on the market for a week or less. 

Where did competition pick up the most? These 10 ZIP codes saw the biggest drop in DOM:

ZIP
code
Median DOM:
June-Aug 2020
Median DOM:
June-Aug 2021
Change
in DOM
30337391029
3030935926
30327371324
3034427720
30315301119
3035026719
3033825619
3032825718
30354301416
3022821615

The Atlanta ZIP codes with the biggest change in price per square foot

As this competition for homes around Atlanta has increased, so too has the amount of money you need to spend just to get the same amount of house as you did in 2020. In some ZIP codes, home buyers are spending nearly $100 more per square foot this year compared to last. ZIP codes that saw the greatest change in price per square foot map to places such as Stone Mountain, Decatur, Forest Park, and Austell.

ZIP
code
Median price per square foot:
June-Aug 2020
Median price per square foot:
June-Aug 2021
Percent
change*
30083$101$17976%
30034$90$14461%
30297$84$12650%
30168$105$15649%
30012$98$14447%
30035$94$13746%
30093$124$18146%
30294$89$12844%
30331$113$16142%
30260$89$12742%

The bottom line

Atlanta was changing well before the pandemic, but the shifts in lifestyle that the pandemic created — an emphasis on space, a reduced need to withstand long commutes — are helping to alter the city’s real estate market in significant ways. 

City neighborhoods are seeing increased competition and higher prices, while the suburbs are the battlegrounds for bidding wars that have driven up median sale prices by over $150,000 in some ZIP codes. Like other hot markets across the U.S., Atlanta's new normal means that home buyers this year have to act fast, and come prepared to spend markedly more, particularly for single-family homes. 

If you have your heart set on buying a home in ATL, review the best places to live in Atlanta, learn how to negotiate in a hot market, and read up on why a cash offer for the home of your dreams will likely beat a financed one.

Full data for Atlanta-area ZIP codes

The following is the full list of Atlanta ZIP codes we measured, and how their median sale prices, median prices per square foot, and median days on market changed from June-August 2020 to June-August 2021.

ZIP
code
DOM:
June-Aug '20
DOM:
June-Aug '21
Sale price:
June-Aug '20
Sale price:
June-Aug '21
$/sq foot:
June-Aug '20
$/sq foot:
June-Aug '21
3000254$402,750$547,227$200$267
30004165$485,000$510,000$173$217
30005175$475,500$632,500$162$187
30008126$242,000$290,500$124$171
30009165$431,500$590,000$195$248
30012187$170,000$225,000$98$144
30013136$205,000$279,000$93$127
30017145$293,000$350,000$107$134
30022155$435,000$515,000$161$204
30024165$342,500$430,000$122$168
30030155$533,000$600,000$286$346
30032166$240,000$285,000$153$214
30033165$390,000$432,500$220$258
30034146$178,000$231,250$90$144
3003596$170,000$229,000$94$137
30038146$188,000$227,450$100$140
3003995$225,000$290,000$103$136
3004395$272,500$355,500$113$147
30044106$252,938$298,500$115$154
3004675$234,000$297,500$113$152
30047145$265,000$325,000$113$147
30052104$230,000$295,000$105$141
30058135$175,000$209,950$98$133
30060107$281,500$309,300$161$203
30062115$370,000$436,000$149$178
30064145$360,000$420,000$134$175
30066115$314,000$362,000$136$169
30067176$390,000$425,000$162$192
30068186$473,750$532,500$159$188
30071104$245,000$345,000$132$182
30075155$488,000$580,000$165$212
30076155$395,298$462,720$172$219
30078116$261,000$307,000$113$145
30080176$365,628$424,000$172$202
3008287$339,000$400,000$153$185
30083137$174,000$242,523$101$179
30084105$286,245$353,000$149$205
30087156$238,500$305,000$101$129
30088116$168,500$215,000$94$127
30092175$399,000$411,000$144$169
30093106$214,000$250,000$124$181
30094166$229,000$275,000$100$129
30096126$282,150$332,250$141$173
30097195$440,000$581,000$142$190
3010284$258,000$346,500$114$142
ZIP
code
DOM:
June-Aug '20
DOM:
June-Aug '21
Sale price:
June-Aug '20
Sale price:
June-Aug '21
$/sq foot:
June-Aug '20
$/sq foot:
June-Aug '21
3010656$212,900$273,500$123$157
30122135$209,000$245,000$104$136
30126125$290,000$350,000$122$163
30127105$270,000$325,931$117$152
30134125$205,000$253,000$112$147
30135125$225,200$280,000$106$138
3014195$203,000$266,396$120$164
3014464$243,500$315,000$126$169
30152115$326,000$394,000$123$164
30157165$227,500$272,500$123$166
3016865$200,000$249,500$105$156
3018874$279,000$345,000$146$198
30213165$230,400$288,000$100$132
30214136$277,500$335,000$109$135
30215165$289,075$338,500$115$143
30228216$222,945$267,500$106$140
30236136$179,500$231,000$99$127
30238166$160,000$200,500$96$130
30252175$299,700$373,375$111$133
30253155$239,900$279,500$104$125
30260117$147,500$194,500$89$127
30273115$155,050$215,000$95$123
30274105$130,000$176,000$89$121
30281125$204,450$250,000$101$133
30290165$365,000$399,500$126$147
30291174$169,000$205,938$110$126
3029485$204,000$265,000$89$128
30296106$172,000$210,000$85$119
30297147$118,000$153,000$84$126
303051613$786,900$965,000$402$377
30306127$845,000$870,650$368$386
30307196$585,500$707,500$307$368
30309359$705,000$750,000$333$407
30310209$256,335$339,900$183$241
30311239$225,000$230,000$173$164
30312158$475,000$511,250$303$401
303141811$185,000$249,500$163$226
303153011$203,450$250,000$163$231
30316157$350,450$435,000$230$325
30317115$498,900$555,000$277$334
30318196$295,000$399,000$215$258
30319148$575,000$672,000$256$304
303241913$583,125$658,500$285$297
303273713$1,150,000$1,250,000$280$332
30328257$505,000$552,500$193$233
303292213$426,750$508,970$206$254
30331217$210,000$240,000$113$161
303373910$282,500$347,500$164$214
30338256$503,750$575,000$176$206
303391710$465,000$480,000$169$214
30340197$330,000$410,000$166$209
3034188$405,000$482,500$214$247
303422511$661,250$690,000$274$277
30344277$189,325$217,000$136$183
303451310$450,000$553,500$191$265
30349136$189,000$236,000$103$136
30350267$573,250$677,500$154$204
303543014$185,250$221,500$151$204
30360712$376,000$480,972$159$196

Methodology

To create this report, Orchard analyzed transactions across ZIP codes in the Atlanta MLS for two three-month periods: June-August of 2020, and June-August of 2021. All ZIP codes within 25 miles of Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park near downtown Atlanta, with at least 25 home sale transactions of single-family homes and townhomes in both time frames, were included. 

For each metric, Orchard compared the difference between each time frame, and ranked ZIP codes based on either the total difference (for median DOM) or percent difference (for median sale prices and median price per square foot).

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