Atlanta for property investment?
On 13th October 2012, UGC Global Property will be in Atlanta to execute the first of what will likely be many investment property acquisitions on behalf of its clients over the next 12 to 24 months. In this post we thought we’d actually take a look at the history of Atlanta and what has made it the city it is today.
The city of Atlanta is home to a population of more than 420,000 people. It is considered by many the cultural and economic hub of the southeast United States of America. Home to more than 5.25 million people, the greater Atlanta metropolitan area is the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States and the largest city in the state of Georgia, as well as it being its capital.
The city was formally established in 1847 at the intersection of two railroad lines and it began to flourish after the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865. Atlanta became known for its progressive citizens and leaders through much of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s and 1960s and in 1996 was the host of the Summer Olympic Games.
Although being the 9th most populous US city, economically this city punches above its weight. According to Wikipedia, the city of Atlanta generates approximately US$270 billion in Gross Domestic Product or 1/6th of Australia’s entire GDP. This makes Atlanta 15th among world cities and sixth in the United States. Being the primary transportation hub of the southeastern United States, Atlanta is home to the world’s busiest international airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Many consider the 1990 awarding of the Summer Olympic Games as the moment that helped move and improve Atlanta in to the 21st century city it is today. It was during this time when the city government undertook major construction projects to improve its parks, sporting venues and transportation infrastructure. But it is what happened in the 2000’s that has us looking at Atlanta as major focus for property acquisitions for the purpose of investment.
During this period of time, suburbanisation, rising property prices and a booming economy all helped see an influx of new migrants call Atlanta home. These migrants consisted of many different nationalities, ethnicities and working backgrounds but it included a very strong representation of professionals and students. By 2010, nearly 43% of the city’s adult population had college/university degrees, compared to the national average of 27%.
Major modernisation and city transformation work also continued during this period and the city was beautified by increasing city park space by approximately 40% and by demolishing and redeveloping large areas of public housing for private development. It was during this time that the city’s High Museum of Art doubled in size, the Alliance Theatre won a Tony Award and numerous art galleries were established.
Today there are approximately 1,250 multi-national organisations that conduct business in Atlanta with it containing the third largest concentration of Fortune 500 Companies. The Coca-Cola Company, The Home Depot, AT&T Mobility, United Parcel Service (UPS) and Newell-Rubbermaid are those companies who call Atlanta home for their global headquarters.
For those interested in sport, it is home to the Atlanta Falcons National Football League team, the Atlanta Hawks National Basketball Association team and the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball team. It also hosts of the final Professional Golfers’ Association event each year being The Tour Championship.
Unfortunately for those living in the Atlanta metro area, the 2000’s became a hotbed of overdevelopment and subprime lending and since the peak in US property prices in 2006 and the commencement of the Global Financial Crisis in 2007, the general level of real estate values in the Atlanta area have plummeted, with Atlanta’s 9.9% year-over-year decline to September 2012 being the worst performing major city property market in the US in 2012 to that date.
BUT….. early signs of improvement are already starting to come through with major investor interest starting to help this market clear itself of the huge oversupply of foreclosed homes.
Over the course of the next several editions we will look further into the current state of the Atlanta property market and the reasons why the decline was so bad and show you how you can profit from this opportunity.
If, however, you don’t wish to wait every two weeks to hear how this opportunity is passing you by, then you can always contact us today to discuss what you can do now to take advantage of this very rare opportunity.
(Source: The vast majority of this information was sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta )The information contained in this article is General in nature and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. When assessing any investment you should also consider that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance