In Atlanta, same house, same street — but twice the mortgage payment

First-time metro Atlanta homebuyers, or those who want to move up in the market, might feel like they’re scrambling to chase down more expensive properties.

The average metro housing price is now nearly double what it was just five years ago —  $430,000.

Severe price appreciation has been happening across the metro for several years now due to recent hikes in interest rates with increased demand and folks moving to Atlanta from larger, more expensive cities during the pandemic.

Atlanta’s jump in housing prices pales only to Phoenix and nearby Nashville, according to the real estate website Zillow. There’s no question the meteoric leaps in prices can’t continue like they are. But have we reached the height of housing craze? And if so, is a correction coming?

To get a sense of those answers, Skylar Olsen, chief economist at Zillow, sat down with WABE’s “All Things Considered” for the latest episode in our “Pretty Penny” series on what things now cost.

Lily Oppenheimer contributed to this report.