Because of Atlanta’s very dynamic socioeconomic and cultural position, the city has historically suffered more than many cities during times of economic trouble and recession. This most recent economic collapse has treated Atlanta and actually all of Georgia no differently. Atlanta real estate has suffered some pretty big hits in both the residential and commercial sectors of the city. Paul Donsky wrote on October 16, 2009, in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that several banks have been suffering and have been grappling with bad residential real estate loans that have placed significant strains on their ways of doing business and their future economic outlooks.
Atlanta homes for sale could be worse, though, reported Trevor Williams of the Global Atlanta. The October 16, 2009, article claims that “Atlanta ranked number 7 in median home prices and has housing that is affordable and projected to rise in value over the next five years.” Some of this positive economic outlook is thanks to a number of multinational corporations and global businesses that are based in the city. These companies often times provide more steady support to their employees in tough times compared to smaller companies that often struggle significantly more during economic difficulty. The world’s largest airline, Delta, the world’s largest beverage brand, Coca-Cola, and one of the world’s largest home improvement chains, Home Depot, are all headquartered in the city and are just some of the many big-name companies based in Atlanta. Having these companies provide as much support to struggling employees has helped to keep the Atlanta housing market from collapsing outright and has preserved the value of much of the real estate in Atlanta.
While big companies might shield some residents of Atlanta, Jay Bookman of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution painted a slightly different picture in his October 13, 2009 column entitled “Empty homes a symbol of pain, economic and otherwise.” Bookman writes that an unemployment rate above 10 percent in Georgia, foreclosures rising, and stagnant retail sales have all left a profound effect on Atlanta and the surrounding area. The article includes the insight of economist Stan Humphries who said, “Thirty percent of foreclosures are homes in the top tier of local home values…That means that top-tier homes make up almost twice the proportion of foreclosures as they did just three years ago.”
