1. Regional Snapshot:
Homeownership 2021
Released September 30th, 2021
For more information, contact:
Erik Woodworth
Research & Data Visualization Coordinator, ARC
Data Scientist, Neighborhood Nexus
ewoodworth@atlantaregional.org

2. For much of the COVID-19 pandemic, home prices have been rapidly rising across the region (and nationally) due to array of factors (e.g., low
interest rates, high demand from 1st time home buyers, a low supply of on-market homes, and slow pace of new production).
In recent months, the home sale market appears to be “cooling” in many places, the Atlanta region included, due to waning demand from first-
time homebuyers. To be clear, home sale prices continue to climb, and demand is still strong – albeit with less intensity than earlier in the
pandemic.
The homeownership rate has been in decline for the last 20 years both regionally and nationally. However, in terms of raw numbers, from
2012 to 2019 there was a net gain of 135K owner households in the Atlanta region. This gain was driven entirely by households with annual
incomes of $75K or more.
In recent years, both the number and proportion of owner households paying more that 30% of their income on housing costs (i.e., cost-
burdened) has been on the decline. While a decline on ”cost-burdened” owners may appear at first glance to be a positive trend in terms of
housing affordability, closer examination reveals that it is due to primarily to lower-income households being priced-out of homeownership.
The Black-White homeownership gap remains wide and is widening across much of the region. It must be noted, however, that the width of
the gap varies considerably from county-to-county, with a 30.3-percentage point difference in Cobb at the widest and a nearly 4.9-percentage
point difference in Fayette at the narrowest. The extent to which the gap is widening or narrowing also varies regionally with most counties
and the City of Atlanta seeing the gap between Black-White homeownership rates widening between 2010 and 2019 while in a few places
(Fayette, Cobb, and Rockdale) it has gotten narrower.
The Metro Atlanta Housing Strategy’s Home Sale Price Change Analysis (2013 to 2020) results will soon be released in an update to the
strategy’s website. A regional-scale preview of some of the results are shown here at the end of the presentation.
Homeownership 2021
In Summary…

3. Homeownership 2021
Case-Shiller Home Price Index
Comparison of Monthly Average by MSA
January 2000 to August 2021
Compared to other MSAs, Atlanta is a
“relatively” affordable place to purchase
a home. However similarly to other US
metro markets, prices have been rising
quickly amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

4. Homeownership 2021
Building Permits for New Private Housing
Total Structures for Atlanta CBSA by Building Type
2000 to 2020
All Residential Structures
Single Family structures
Number
of
structures
Permitting activity is down considerably compared to the
pre-recession high with a small YTY increase for SF structures
and decline in the number new of MF buildings. In 2020, the
level of permitting activity was on par with what the region
was experiencing in the early 1990s.

5. Homeownership 2021
For-Sale Inventory &
YTY Percent Change in Median List Price
Atlanta CBSA
July 2017 to August 2021
Active Listings
YTY Percent Change
in Median List Price
Number
of
Active
Listings
YTY
Percent
Change
in
Median
List
Price
There is a clear inverse relationship between for-sale inventory
and change in list prices, with a small dip in prices early in the
pandemic as inventory spiked followed by a sharp increase in
prices while active listings dropped. The YTY percent change in
median list price in the region peaked at 21% in April of this
year, after which the market appears to be cooling (a national
trend).
HOT MARKET
COOLING
MARKET

6. Homeownership 2021
Median Days on the Market
Atlanta CBSA
July 2016 to August 2021
Median
Number
of
Days
YTY
Percent
Change
Median Days on the Market YTY Percent Change
Low interest rates, high demand from 1st time home buyers, a
low supply of on-market homes, and slow pace of new
production are likely all at the root of the quick turnover rate
and increasing home sale prices – a confluence of factors that
has persisted for much of the pandemic. However, in recent
months it appears that the housing market might be cooling.
HOT MARKET
COOLING
MARKET

7. -0.02
-0.2
-0.6 -0.6 -0.7
-0.9
-1.4
-1.7 -1.7
-2.1
-2.5 -2.5 -2.5 -2.6 -2.7 -2.8
-3.2 -3.2 -3.2
-3.8 -4.0
-4.6
-5.4
-5.9
-6.2
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
Change
in
Homeownership
Rate
Percentage
Point
Difference
Homeownership 2021
Change in Ownership Rate
Percentage Point Difference, 2000 to 2019
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)*
The homeownership rate has been declining
in major metros over the last 20 years.
Data Source:
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year Estimates, accessed via Social Explorer
* MSAs experienced boundary changes between 2000 and 2019, making an “apples-to-apples” comparison difficult

8. 1.2
-0.2
-1.6
-2.5
-3.5 -4.0
-5.5
-7.7
-9.7
-11.9 -12.0
-18.9
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
Change
in
Homeownership
Rate
Percentage
Point
Difference
Homeownership 2021
Change in Ownership Rate
Percentage Point Difference, 2000 to 2019
City of Atlanta* and Counties in ARC Metro Region
Except for Fulton County,
homeownership rates have declined
across the ARC metro region.
Data Source:
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year Estimates, accessed via Social Explorer
* City of Atlanta experienced boundary changes between 2000 and 2019, again making an “apples-to-apples” comparison difficult

9. 0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Number
of
Owner
Households
Data Source:
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year Estimates
Homeownership 2021
Owners by Household Income
ARC 11-County Region
2012 to 2019
$20,000 to $34,999
$35,000 to $49,999
$50,000 to $74,999
$75,000 or more
Less than $20,000
From 2012 to 2019, the number of
homeowners in the region increased by
135,315 households. This net gain was driven
entirely by households making $75K or more.
Change
2012 to 2019
+195,067
-5,576
-13,571
-25,122
-15,483

10. 53.6%
51.7% 52.3%
49.0% 48.8% 48.6% 49.8% 49.9%
27.8%
25.7% 24.6%
23.0%
21.2% 21.0% 20.8% 19.8%
37.2%
35.4% 35.2%
33.1% 32.1% 31.5% 31.5% 30.9%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Data Source:
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year Estimates *Spending more than 30% of income on housing costs
All Households
Renter Households
Owner Households
Homeownership 2021
Percent of Cost-Burdened Households* by Tenure
ARC 11-County Region
2012 to 2019
The proportion of owners who are cost-burdened in the
region has been steadily declining to just under 20% in 2019.

11. Data Source:
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year Estimates *Spending more than 30% of income on housing costs
Since 2012, the number of cost-burdened
owners* has declined by an average of
7,164 households each year.
Homeownership 2021
Number of Cost-Burdened
Owners* by Tenure
ARC 11-County Region
2012 to 2019
299,047 302,427
316,039 308,904
317,020 311,583 315,086
323,066
269,314
249,746
240,437
227,875
212,597 219,196 224,825 219,160
0K
50K
100K
150K
200K
250K
300K
350K
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Number
of
Cost-Burdened
Households
Renter Owners

12. 80.4% 82.1% 82.5% 82.4% 83.7% 83.6% 84.9% 86.7%
64.6%
61.1%
58.3%
61.5%
52.4%
58.0%
60.5% 59.7%
50.5%
43.1%
46.5%
43.9% 43.8% 42.5%
44.3% 45.8%
29.2%
25.0% 25.0%
22.5% 23.1% 23.1%
24.9% 26.5%
6.5% 6.0% 4.9% 4.9% 4.4% 4.5% 5.1% 4.1%
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Percent
of
Households
Data Source:
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year Estimates *Spending more than 30% of income on rent and utilities
Homeownership 2021
Percent of Cost-Burdened Owner
Households* by Household Income
ARC 11-County Region
2012 to 2019
$20,000 to $34,999
$35,000 to $49,999
$50,000 to $74,999
$75,000 or more
Less than $20,000
Since 2012, only owner households making less than $20K
per year saw an increase in the proportion of which were
cost-burdened. The proportion of cost-burdened owners
declined for every other income range.

13. A large gap in homeownership is evident in every major
metro region of the county. In the Atlanta Metro region in
2019, the homeownership rate among White
householders was 73.7%. In contrast, the homeownership
rate among Black householders was 47.5%.
Homeownership 2021
Black-White Ownership Gap
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), 2019
-50
-40
-39 -38 -37 -36
-34 -33 -33 -33 -32 -31 -31 -30 -30 -29 -29 -28 -27 -26 -26 -26 -25 -24 -24
-21 -20 -19 -19 -18
-60
-40
-20
0
Black-White
Homeownership
Gap
Percentage
Point
Difference
Data Source:
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year Estimates, accessed via Social Explorer

14. 15
-2.7
-1.3 -1.3 -1.1 -1.0 -0.9 -0.8 -0.7 -0.7
0.0
0.2 0.4 0.6
0.8
1.2
1.5
1.8 1.9 2.0
2.5
3.1 3.1 3.2 3.2
3.4 3.4 3.6
4.2 4.3
4.8
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
Change
in
Black-White
Homeownership
Gap
Percentage
Point
Change
Widening
Gap
Narrowing
Gap
Homeownership 2021
Change in Black-White Ownership Gap
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), 2010 to 2019
Over the last decade, the gap between
Black and White home ownership has
widened in most metro regions across
the county, albeit with some notable
exceptions.
Data Source:
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year Estimates, accessed via Social Explorer

15. -30.3
-25.5 -24.8
-23.3 -22.6 -22.1
-21.0 -21.0
-18.2 -17.4 -17.0
-4.9
-35
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
Black-White
Homeownership
Gap
Percentage
Point
Difference
Homeownership 2021
Black-White Ownership Gap
City of Atlanta and Counties in ARC Metro Region, 2019
The homeownership gap between Black and White
householders in the region is widest in Cobb County
(-30.3 percentage points) and narrowest in Fayette
County (-4.9 percentage points).
Data Source:
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year Estimates, accessed via Social Explorer

16. Widening
Gap
Narrowing
Gap
-4.4
-2.0
-0.3
0.5 1.3 1.9 2.4 2.6 2.9
3.9 3.9
21.5
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
Change
in
Black-White
Homeownership
Gap
Percentage
Point
Change
Homeownership 2021
Change in Black-White Ownership Gap
City of Atlanta and Counties in ARC Metro Region , 2010 to 2019
Over the last decade (with
exceptions of Fayette, Cobb, and
Rockdale counties), the Black-
Ownership gap has widened at the
jurisdictional level across the region.
Data Source:
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year Estimates, accessed via Social Explorer

17. Homeownership 2021
Metro Atlanta Housing Strategy
(MAHS) metroatlhousing.org
Coming Soon…
✓ New and improved Data Explorer
✓ Housing market analysis results for
home sales from 2013 to 2020
✓ Sitewide UI/UX improvements
✓ County profile pages including demand
forecasts and market snapshots

18. Homeownership 2021
MAHS: Home Sale Price Change Analysis (2013 to 2020) Results
Click here to view animation

19. Homeownership 2021
MAHS: Home Sale Price Change Analysis (2013 to 2020) Results
Click here to view animation

20. Homeownership 2021
And to Close…Other Data Resources
https://33n.atlantaregional.com/
http://data.neighborhoodnexus.org/
http://data.metroatlhousing.org/