April Intown Market Report
For April 2024, the Average Sales Price for the overall market is $737,610, a year over year increase of 5% and a 15% increase over the last two years. In the last year, the average house was on the market for 37 days, an increase of 26% from 2023, and 1,509 housing units sold, a drop of 16% in the last 12 months. This month, I would like to look at the Southeast Atlanta neighborhoods that lie in Fulton County.
In the mid-1970s, I purchased my first home in Grant Park. The house had been boarded up for many years and was the very definition of a “fixer upper”. I paid $7,500 for the house and, since the banks would not lend in most Intown neighborhoods, the seller financed the sale with only $500.00 down. If you fast forward to the present, houses in Grant Park are selling for almost 100 times more than the price of my first home. Back in the 1970s, homes in Southeast Atlanta were very affordable, especially when compared to homes north of DeKalb Avenue. Today, with a couple of exceptions, houses in these Southeast Atlanta communities are selling for $600,000 on up to over $1 million. Below is a chart with the Average Sales Prices in some of these neighborhoods.
Fifty years ago, most of these communities were considered food deserts. Today, in an around these neighborhoods are at least five national chain grocery stores. In the 1970s, there were very few restaurants in Southeast Atlanta. Now there are a multitude of restaurants serving all sorts of cuisines.
The neighborhood schools were considered substandard and parents worked hard to have their children transferred into better schools within the Atlanta Public Schools system or they moved out of these communities. Today, there are several Charter elementary schools and the high school is an International Baccalaureate World School.
Fifty years ago, the major road corridors serving these communities could charitably be described as sort of “postindustrial” shabby. Today, Memorial Drive, Capital Avenue/Hank Aaron, Boulevard and Moreland Avenue have streets lined with mixed use projects, grocery anchored shopping centers and plenty of other retail options.
The passing of time, plus the addition of all these amenities, has improved the quality of life and made these neighborhoods a desirable place to live. The demand for houses in these communities far outstrips the supply of available homes and is thus reflected in their Average Sales Prices.
