Atlanta
The city itself: dozens of submarkets under one name, where a citywide median is a starting point and the neighborhood is the real answer.
Updated September 2026 · Source: FMLS, compiled by the Terence Richardson Group
The 60-second read
7,542 FMLS closings hit the City of Atlanta in the year ending September 2026, at a $435,000 median. Now, be honest with yourself about what that number is: an average of dozens of submarkets that behave nothing alike.
The middle half of sales ran $280,749 to $779,000, and that spread is the real headline. Where you buy matters far more than the citywide median. So use this page for orientation, then go a level down: our Buckhead guide and the market-data section break the city into the zips where decisions actually get made.
What the housing stock actually is
One third of recent sales, 33%, were built before 1960: the bungalows, four-squares, and cottages of the streetcar-era neighborhoods. Another 22% came from the 2000s to early 2010s and 16% from 2015 or later, two decades of townhome and infill building. The middle, 1960 to 1999, is comparatively thin at 28%.
The middle half of sales ran 1,120 to 2,300 square feet and $280,749 to $779,000. Condos pull the size numbers down. The in-town renovation wave pushes prices up. Both effects swing sharply by neighborhood.
New construction is a small slice of closings; 1% of sales since 2020 were built 2020 or later in this data, though the 2015-plus share shows where infill landed. So in Atlanta you are almost always choosing between an older home, a renovation, or a recent townhome, and the right answer changes street by street.
Data last updated: September 2026. Source: FMLS closed sales, compiled by the Terence Richardson Group. Y-axis does not start at zero.
View the data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Oct 2021 | $359K |
| Nov 2021 | $359K |
| Dec 2021 | $343K |
| Jan 2022 | $350K |
| Feb 2022 | $365K |
| Mar 2022 | $363K |
| Apr 2022 | $395K |
| May 2022 | $400K |
| Jun 2022 | $396K |
| Jul 2022 | $390K |
| Aug 2022 | $372K |
| Sep 2022 | $370K |
| Oct 2022 | $395K |
| Nov 2022 | $379K |
| Dec 2022 | $370K |
| Jan 2023 | $342K |
| Feb 2023 | $369K |
| Mar 2023 | $365K |
| Apr 2023 | $376K |
| May 2023 | $400K |
| Jun 2023 | $400K |
| Jul 2023 | $360K |
| Aug 2023 | $395K |
| Sep 2023 | $400K |
| Oct 2023 | $383K |
| Nov 2023 | $393K |
| Dec 2023 | $396K |
| Jan 2024 | $355K |
| Feb 2024 | $414K |
| Mar 2024 | $400K |
| Apr 2024 | $395K |
| May 2024 | $407K |
| Jun 2024 | $410K |
| Jul 2024 | $390K |
| Aug 2024 | $370K |
| Sep 2024 | $389K |
| Oct 2024 | $374K |
| Nov 2024 | $395K |
| Dec 2024 | $398K |
| Jan 2025 | $375K |
| Feb 2025 | $380K |
| Mar 2025 | $429K |
| Apr 2025 | $482K |
| May 2025 | $410K |
| Jun 2025 | $385K |
| Jul 2025 | $375K |
| Aug 2025 | $380K |
| Sep 2025 | $357K |
| Oct 2025 | $391K |
| Nov 2025 | $402K |
| Dec 2025 | $376K |
| Jan 2026 | $370K |
| Feb 2026 | $415K |
| Mar 2026 | $478K |
| Apr 2026 | $491K |
| May 2026 | $465K |
| Jun 2026 | $480K |
| Jul 2026 | $479K |
| Aug 2026 | $455K |
| Sep 2026 | $460K |
What tends to work well
- Buyers who want price options; the middle half of Atlanta FMLS sales ran $280,749 to $779,000 in the year ending September 2026.
- Anyone who wants to live near the BeltLine, Piedmont Park, and the restaurant and event core, not commute to it.
- Buyers who value MARTA rail; the city holds nearly the entire network.
- Buyers hunting pre-1960 character; 33% of city sales are that era.
What buyers should think about
- Buyers who want one predictable product; price and quality vary enormously block to block, and 2026 citywide stats will not protect you.
- Anyone set on skipping neighborhood-level research; in Atlanta's FMLS data, that is the mistake that costs the most.
- Buyers who want large suburban lots and three-car garages; in-town lot sizes are the tradeoff for location.
- Buyers who expect fast, low-negotiation sales everywhere; at 39 median days and 95.2% of list, many submarkets favor patient buyers.
How are the commutes from Atlanta?
The Downtown Connector, where I-75 and I-85 merge through the middle of the city, plus I-20 east-west and GA 400 north, put every corridor within reach. They also host the region's heaviest interchanges. The ranges above are broad on purpose: Atlanta trip times depend on your exact neighborhood. Treat them as 2026 planning ranges; a live traffic source and your actual address decide the rest.
The city holds nearly all of MARTA's rail network, all four lines, plus the downtown streetcar. If transit matters to you, Atlanta proper is where it actually exists.
Drive times are realistic off-peak to peak ranges, not promises. Test your own commute at your own hours before you buy; we say that to every client.
- 10-30 min from most in-town neighborhoods
- to Midtown
- 10-35 min
- to Buckhead
- 20-45 min
- to the Perimeter
- 15-40 min
- to Hartsfield-Jackson
What schools serve Atlanta?
Atlanta is served by Atlanta Public Schools. Verify any address's assigned schools with the district's official lookup.
Midtown High School
Atlanta Public Schools- 9-12
- grades
- 1,602
- students
- 15.7:1
- student-teacher ratio
- 62.2% / 50%
- ELA / Math proficient or above (2024-25)
North Atlanta High School
Atlanta Public Schools- 9-12
- grades
- 2,316
- students
- 15.8:1
- student-teacher ratio
- 51.4% / 31.9%
- ELA / Math proficient or above (2024-25)
Also commonly referenced: Maynard Holbrook Jackson High School.
Sources: enrollment, grades, and staffing from NCES Common Core of Data via the Urban Institute Education Data API (2022-23); assessment figures from Georgia Milestones, Governor's Office of Student Achievement downloadable data, 2024-25, share of tested students scoring Proficient or Distinguished on Georgia Milestones (ELA and Math; EOG for elementary and middle schools, American Literature and Algebra EOC for high schools). Attendance zones are set by the district, change over time, and must be verified address by address before you rely on them. We identify schools factually and present official statistics uniformly; we do not rate, rank, or characterize schools.
Everyday life
The BeltLine is the city's connective tissue, linking neighborhood after neighborhood, with the Eastside Trail as its busiest stretch. Piedmont Park is the flagship green space, and Ponce City Market anchors the food-hall scene beside it. That in-town pull is a big part of why the City of Atlanta, Fulton County cleared 7,542 FMLS closings in the year ending September 2026.
Downtown carries the stadium and arena calendar, headlined by Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Each in-town neighborhood keeps its own village node of restaurants and shops. Which node becomes yours is, honestly, the whole question of buying in Atlanta.
If you like Atlanta, also look at
Buckhead
$825K median · 39 days
Decatur
$329K median · 37 days
Brookhaven
$842K median · 24 days
Sandy Springs
$658K median · 24 days
Smyrna
$460K median · 33 days
Medians and days on market: trailing 12 months. Data last updated: September 2026. Source: FMLS closed sales, compiled by the Terence Richardson Group.
Questions people ask
Atlanta questions, answered
Is Atlanta a good place to live?
7,542 FMLS closings in the year ending September 2026 make the City of Atlanta, Fulton County a deep market, and its case is the city itself: the BeltLine, Piedmont Park, nearly the entire MARTA rail network, the event calendar, and dozens of distinct neighborhoods. The tradeoffs: block-to-block variation that citywide stats cannot capture, in-town lot sizes, and Connector traffic. It fits buyers willing to do neighborhood-level homework; the city rewards that work more than any suburb does.
What is the median home price in Atlanta?
$435,000 is the median home price in the City of Atlanta, Fulton County, GA for the 12 months ending September 2026, per FMLS closed sales compiled by the Terence Richardson Group. Treat it as a starting point only. The middle half of sales ran $280,749 to $779,000, and individual submarkets, from Buckhead's estate streets to neighborhoods still reinvesting, sit far above and below that figure.
How close can you live to downtown Atlanta?
3 to 8 miles covers most in-town Atlanta neighborhoods' distance to Five Points, roughly 10 to 30 minutes by car depending on traffic. MARTA rail covers the spine of the city, so many addresses reach downtown faster by train than by car at rush hour. The neighborhood you pick sets the commute; the citywide number tells you almost nothing.
What are homes like in Atlanta?
About 33% of recent City of Atlanta sales were built before 1960, per FMLS closings for the year ending September 2026: streetcar-era bungalows and cottages. Another 38% was built after 2000, mostly townhomes, condos, and infill. The middle half ran 1,120 to 2,300 square feet, priced $280,749 to $779,000. The mix changes completely between neighborhoods, which is why the market-data section of this site breaks the city down to the zip level.
Book a discovery call
Thinking about Atlanta?
Tell us what you're looking for and we'll set up a live, personalized search, or grab the Atlanta market report and keep researching. Both are the right answer.
