‘Phenomenal year in real
estate,’ councilman says
52 FORECAST 2021 REAL ESTATE
While much of American
By Chart Riggall
business has been battered
over the past year by the
pandemic and its resulting
economic fallout, in some
regards, real estate has been one sector that
has hardly missed a beat.
The National Association of Realtors found that in December,
home sales in America reached their highest level since 2006.
Average home prices in metro Atlanta rose by more than 14% in
2020, spurred by Georgia’s relative economic stability compared
with the rest of the country.
Deborah Nagel, president of the Cobb Association of Realtors,
told the MDJ home sales in December were up 18.8% over the
previous year. She called the real estate market in Cobb last fall
“one of the busiest in history,” noting that many families are
looking to relocate from townhomes and condominiums—new
listings for those properties jumped 35.3%.
Local real estate agents say in spite of everything, there’s never
been a better time to be in business.
“Surprisingly enough … it’s been a phenomenal year in real
estate,” said Marietta City Councilman Johnny Walker, a real
estate agent. “You would
think that wouldn’t be the
case, but people still bought
houses. And it’s just been a
really good year.”
Walker cited continually
low interest rates and a
scarcity of quality housing
stock as drivers of the market
throughout 2020.
“We have a real shortage of
inventory on listings,” Walker
added. “If you have somewhat
of a decent house in Marietta,
it’ll sell in one day.”
Like many other agencies,
Walker’s company has adapted
to the pandemic with new
technology, like virtual home
tours, and implementing
social distancing guidelines for
events such as open houses.
Driven in part by the
shortage Walker alludes to,
Cobb has continued to see
large developments approved
and under construction in the
last year.
In Kennesaw, projects both
completed and underway
include the Lewis House
development near downtown,
the 75-home Prichard Park
site on Moon Station Road,
and the 70-townhome units at
While the pandemic has slowed many sectors of the economy, real
estate continues to boom in Cobb County as new construction
continues. One such development is this office and residential space at
the corner of Meeting and Roswell streets in downtown Marietta.