Percentage of Atlanta homes sold to investors fell in 2024
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The share of institutional investors who bought Atlanta-area homes shrank slightly in 2024, per a new report from data firm ATTOM.
Why it matters: If it holds, the trend could benefit residents who, for the past few years, have been shut out of the investor-dominated market.
By the numbers: Last year, 9.9% of metro Atlanta homes were purchased by investors, a decrease from 11.7% in 2023.
- Statewide, just 8.6% of homes were bought by investors last year, down from 10.3% in 2023.
Zoom out: Last year, several metro areas with a population of at least 200,000 attracted high investor interest. Each of these cities had roughly double — or more — the investor activity compared to the national average:
- Memphis, Tennessee (15.1% of sales)
- Huntsville, Alabama (12.5%)
- Birmingham, Alabama (12.4%)
- Fayetteville, North Carolina (11.1%)
- Columbus, Georgia (11.1%)
What they're saying: Investors want to see strong population and job growth, solid rental yields, landlord-friendly regulations, affordability, and long-term appreciation potential, ATTOM CEO Rob Barber tells Axios.
Zoom in: Since the peak of the pandemic, Atlanta has been inundated with large-scale institutional investors — any non-lending group that purchased at least 10 properties in a calendar year — who are able to move swiftly to purchase homes, often putting down cash offers to edge out traditional buyers, Axios' Thomas Wheatley previously reported.
- They then rent out those houses.
- These investors have benefited from the metro Atlanta's high demand for housing and lack of local regulations, experts previously said.
The bottom line: These latest numbers could be a sign that things are reversing from when investors bought one of every four metro Atlanta homes in 2021.