Atlanta top Southern city for people on the move, study says

Metro Atlanta continues to be a destination, drawing new residents — especially from the high-priced regions.

Metro Atlanta continues to be a destination, drawing new residents — especially from the high-priced regions.

Among large metros, Atlanta ranks fifth in the nation as a destination for Americans on the move and highest in the South, according to a report released Wednesday by a national real estate brokerage company.

But the metro area with the biggest increase in interest — as measured by Redfin database searches — is Nashville.

There were five southern cities in the top ten destinations – Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville, Tampa and Miami. All drew disproportionate interest from the high-cost cities of the northeast and West Coast, according to the study by Seattle-based Redfin.

The analysis is based on a sample of more than one million Redfin.com users searching for homes across 75 metro areas from July through September.

Nearly one-third of all users – 32 percent — looking for a home in Nashville came from outside the area, according to Redfin.

In Atlanta, by comparison, about 25 percent of users were from outside the region, most commonly New York.

The data implies that regions like Atlanta “are poised to build” more housing, the study said.

In the meantime, a steady influx of new residents likely means higher prices for homes and apartments.

The median sales price of a metro Atlanta home is up 5.9 percent — faster than average wage growth — during the past year, according to the most recent report by Re/Max Georgia.

Rents are also up, but less than 3 percent on average, according to Abodo. Atlanta is now the 16th most expensive place to rent, according to the company.


1. San Diego

2. Sacramento

3. Las Vegas

4. Phoenix

5. Atlanta

6. Boston

7. Dallas

8. Nashville

9. Tampa

10. Miami

Source: Redfin