In times of ballooning property values and job creation, it's easy to forget that, according to one study, metro Atlanta is tied for first place (or last place, really) with Las Vegas for the largest percentage of underwater mortgages. This week, the Saporta Report examines metro Atlanta's starkly uneven housing recovery, noting that the post-Recession bounce-back of property values has generally been greatest in the northern region — and especially in the city's core. (A Georgia Tech professor recently found that home values in parts of Buckhead and Brookhaven, for instance, have swelled by about 70 percent since 2001; conversely, most of Clayton County and parts of DeKalb and south Atlanta have seen home values cut nearly in half).
Across the region, some 35 percent of mortgages reportedly have negative equity. That's one reason civic leaders are hosting a program this month called "Underwater Atlanta: Addressing Negative Equity in Our Region," that seeks to outline possible solutions. Housing trends are micro in scale — changing from street to street, block to block — but as one official told the website, "We have to look at systemic changes to provide a quilt of solutions, because no one bullet is going to cure it."
· Housing crisis: Attention refocuses on aiding families, neighborhoods [Saporta]
· New York Times: 'So What's The Matter With Atlanta?' [Curbed]
· Mayor Reed: Atlanta Poised For World-Dominance [Curbed]
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