With more than 24,000 residential construction permits in 2017, Atlanta had its best year on record for housing starts since 2012.
ATL Housing Starts 2012-2017
Over the past year, Atlanta has experienced some of the most rapid economic growth among the country’s largest metro areas. According to WalletHub’s recent ranking on America’s Fastest Growing Large Cities, Atlanta is making its mark… Of the country’s largest cities by population (>300,000 people), Atlanta ranked #11 on the list. When looking at the latest HBW permit reports for Atlanta, this growth is evident in residential construction as well. Back in August, HBW posted an article noting that Atlanta was on track for a record year, and the latest reports confirm exactly that. Since 2012, housing starts have been on the rise across the metro Atlanta area, with every year experiencing more new home construction than the last. In 2017, there was a 10% year-over-year increase in housing starts resulting in more than 24,400 new residential construction permits on file with HBW, making it the best year on record in over five years.
The greatest year-over-year increases and growth in residential construction could be found in counties such as Newton (+64%), Fayette (+56%) and Hall (+48%); on the other hand, there were just a few areas that experienced significant year-over-year dips in residential construction including Walton (-36%) and Oconee (-25%).
When looking at the areas with the highest concentration of housing starts, Gwinnett County was a standout; with a 4% year-over-year increase and nearly 3,700 housing starts in 2017, Gwinnett County ranked #1 for total starts and reflected a consistent growth pattern over the last five years. Next in line was Forsyth County – While 2017 wasn’t a year for growth in residential construction for Forsyth County, in comparison to other counties there were still ample new housing starts on file for the year. With nearly 2,500 housing starts last year, Forsyth County ranked #2 for total new residential construction permits. Coming very close to Forsyth for total housing starts, Fulton County (2,467 permits) ranked #3 for total new permits last year, reflecting a 3% year-over-year increase in new home construction.
ATL Top 5 Counties for Total Permits – 2017
When taking a look at higher value construction (homes over $500k), Fulton County continued to be the leading area. Last year, there were nearly 300 new homes with values in excess of $500k in Fulton County, making it the leader for higher value residential construction in the Metro Atlanta area.
Information utilized for the graphs and above listed figures for metro Atlanta residential construction was directly derived from HBW construction data reports. To gain access to the HBW database and receive custom and detailed reports on the latest residential and commercial building activity in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, and Oklahoma, please contact HBW for details.