Analysis: Rents actually decreased in several hot Atlanta neighborhoods last year

Anecdotal evidence abounds that Atlanta rents, in some cases, have reached new heights.

Take, for instance, the two-bedroom rentals in AMLI’s freshly built Midtown tower that require $5,100 monthly.

Contrary to that, an analysis of Yardi Matrix numbers by RENTCafé indicates that rents actually decreased last year in some of Atlanta’s most desirable areas.

Most dramatically, the study points to a 2.4 percent dip in zip code 30305. That’s Buckhead from roughly Piedmont Hospital to Chastain Park.

Other intown places with slighter ’17 rent decreases include Atlantic Station, the Decatur area, and downtown. (Note: RENTCafé’s numbers apply only to apartments communities of 50 units or more).

Overall, data suggest the city’s rents were among the slowest growing in the region, the national rental service found.

And the year-end study comes on the heels of Apartment List’s report that City of Atlanta rents have been trending downward for three straight months.

The opposite has been true in zip code 30315—parts of Summerhill, Chosewood Park, South Atlanta, Lakewood Heights, and elsewhere—which saw the highest jump in rents (7.8 percent) over 2016.

Overall, rents across the city proper ticked up by 2.4 percent last year. That’s a serious slowdown from the 5.5 percent spike seen in 2016.

For context, one RENTCafé analyst said: “Rents in ATL clock in at $1,340 [per month], a steal for someone coming from cities of similar size such as Washington DC, Boston, or Miami.”

• Atlanta Metro Area 2017 Rent Retrospect [RENTCafé]
• Midtown’s AMLI Arts Center debuts floorplans, pricing for rentals near MARTA [Curbed]