Report: More than 90 percent of Atlanta apartments were rented in 2024

Josh Green

Thu, 01/02/2025 – 12:11

Despite another hot year for multifamily development that saw a record 2,200 new residences added in Midtown alone, Atlanta remained a relatively competitive market for renters in 2024, according to a new analysis.

RentCafe, a national apartment search platform, studied the 139 largest U.S. markets for a year-end “Hottest Rental Markets” analysis and ranked them using five key metrics for rental competitiveness.

The findings concluded that new housing hasn’t exactly eased competition in most markets.

In the City of Atlanta (excluding suburban markets), the overall supply of apartments grew by 1.83 percent across 2024—or slightly behind the 2 percent growth rate the city had logged the previous year.

Meanwhile, the city’s apartment occupancy rate dropped by 1 percent, but remained relatively strong at 90.9 percent overall.

Renters faced less competition in 2024—seven people vying for the same vacant apartment, versus nine people the year before—as lease renewal rates ticked up slightly to 60 percent.

Apartments on the market in the City of Atlanta stayed vacant for 44 days on average, per the RentCafe analysis.

Analysts studied Yardi Systems apartment data pertaining to market-rate, large-scale multifamily properties with at least 50 units. Apartment buildings deemed fully affordable were not counted, per RentCafe.

Many of the Midtown high-rise rentals shown here in December 2022 delivered last year, continuing a multifamily boom. Urbanize Atlanta

The five metrics included: the percentage of rentals occupied; number of days apartments stayed vacant; the share of apartments completed in 2024; the number of prospective renters competing for an apartment; and the percentage of renters who renewed leases.

Meanwhile, Atlanta’s suburbs saw an even higher occupancy rate (92.2 percent, or down .5 percent from 2023) with a full two-thirds of renters (65.9 percent) deciding to stay put.

The sheer amount of new apartments in Atlanta’s ’burbs was described as “robust” in 2024—a 4.31 percent increase, up significantly from 2.88 percent the previous year.

Both the City of Atlanta and suburban markets saw a year-over-year increase in what’s called the Rental Competitiveness Index score: 69.2 for the city, and 66.9 for the suburbs. (The national average, for context, is 74.4, but most markets haven’t logged as much new product as Atlanta’s.)

Considering all the factors above, Atlanta was ranked as the 53rd hottest rental market in the U.S. for 2024, followed by the city’s suburbs in 60th place.

Hmmm.

RentCafe