Based on HBW’s latest Building Activity Trend Report for New Residential Construction, the Metro Atlanta area appears to be experiencing another slow year when it come to new home construction. Since last year, there have been signs of a downward trend in residential construction in Atlanta, with a year-over-year decrease of 18 percent in 2022. With six months still remaining this year, this slope may change, but through Q2-2023 the Atlanta area has demonstrated a 28 percent year-over-year decrease in new residential construction, resulting in 9,880 new permits on record with HBW.
Out of the 24 counties that make up the Metro Atlanta area, Gwinnett County and Cherokee County carried higher concentrations of new home construction activity as they had 1,711 and 889 new residential construction permits on record through the second quarter respectively. Other leading counties for new home construction (based on total permits) include Fulton County (784 permits) and Henry County (650 permits).
Despite the overall dip in new residential construction across the entire Metro Atlanta area, four counties are exhibiting year-over-year increases in new home construction ranging from 4 percent to 30 percent. For example, counties including Bartow, Barrow, and Walton exhibited year-over-year decreases in housing starts in 2023, and since the start of this year, the market has shown signs of improvement; all three counties have started strong with year-over-year increases in new home construction ranging from 8 percent (Walton) to 30 percent (Bartow). Additionally, residential construction has expanded significantly over the last three years in Paulding County where there has been a 4 percent year-over-year increase in new permits through the second quarter of this year.
When reviewing construction reports to identify the areas where higher value residential construction (construction values >$500k) is taking place, the counties of Cherokee, Fulton, and Coweta hold the bulk of higher value permits. In fact, 60 percent of all new higher value residential construction permits have originated from Cherokee, Fulton, and Coweta, with Cherokee County leading and having more than 250 new residential construction permits with values in excess of $500k on record with HBW since the start of this year (thru Q2-2023).
Information utilized for the 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.