Atlanta real estate continues to suffer

Atlanta continues to face hard times in the real estate sector. The Atlanta real estate market has just been named the 4^th worst housing market in the country based on data from S&P/Case-Shiller.  Additionally, the sector fears the effects of federal cuts and downsizing to their already tentative commercial market.

Atlanta housing market has been hard hit by the recession and has been one of the slowest cities to recover.  The area has struggled to match the incredible population growth of the last decade with jobs and has an unemployment rate higher (10.5%) than the national average (9.2%).  According to the new report on sickest housing markets, Atlanta’s homeowner vacancy rate is 5.4% and rental vacancy rate is at 11.8%, the 4^th and 11^th highest, respectively, in the country.

The sluggish economy is also reflected in the commercial real estate sector. With the recent announcements of federal cuts, the sector worries of government consolidation of its leases, half of which expire in the next three years. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta’s commercial vacancy rate increased to 17.2% in the second quarter. Any consolidation of the 8-million square feet owned or leased by the government in the metro area could be another major hit to the area.

Back in February of this year, Atlanta seemed to starting a slow recovery, however, the job market has reversed any such gains since losing 24,300 positions in for the second quarter of 2011. This drop is more significant than any other metropolitan area in the country.