Georgia rental market data

Median growth gives little support to a broad claim that Georgia rents are separating from values: measured metro home values rose 2.2% at the median, and measured asking rents also rose 2.2%. The distributions were much wider. Home-value growth ran from -0.8% at the 10th percentile to 4.4% at the 90th, while rent growth ran from 0.6% to 5.3%. Rent-growth coverage was also narrower, with 22 metros versus 27 for values.

Dublin shows the clearest separation: asking rent rose 9.1% while value rose 2.0%, with a $175,973 value, $1,063 monthly rent and 7.3% gross yield. Dalton recorded 5.3% rent growth against 0.9% value growth and a 7.0% gross yield. Thomasville was less divergent, with rent up 5.3%, value up 4.7% and an 8.7% gross yield. These differences support market-level screening, but the indexes do not show whether the rent increases were realized on a specific property or tenant cohort.

Across 159 measured counties, 389,228 movers entered and 374,365 left, producing net migration of 14,863, or 1.4 people per 1,000 residents. Reported aggregate income moving in exceeded income moving out by $569,945. Those are positive household-movement signals, but they do not align cleanly with employment: median year-over-year job growth across 27 metros was -0.1%, with the 10th-to-90th-percentile range extending from -1.8% to 1.9%.

Some metros were stronger than that distribution’s midpoint. Job growth was 2.3% in Milledgeville, 2.3% in Athens and 2.2% in Dublin; their measured gross yields were 6.5%, 5.4% and 7.3%, respectively. The counter-signal is important for screening: statewide net inflow does not establish expanding employment or tenant demand in every metro, and the migration and employment measurements cover different periods and populations.

The measured metro median was a $238,197 home value, $1,462 monthly asking rent and 7.2% gross yield. The 10th-to-90th-percentile ranges were $176,029 to $377,907 for values, $1,159 to $1,777 for rents and 5.7% to 8.0% for gross yields. Measured rent-to-income ratios ranged from 23.6% to 31.6% across the same percentile span, showing that similar headline yields need not carry the same income context.

Thomasville combined an 8.7% gross yield with a $229,896 value, $1,666 rent and 33.2% rent-to-income ratio. Waycross showed an 8.2% yield on a $171,076 value and $1,163 rent, with a lower 26.9% rent-to-income ratio. Hinesville’s figures were an 8.1% yield, $260,185 value, $1,749 rent and 34.0% rent-to-income ratio. Gross yield excludes vacancy, repairs, management, insurance, taxes, financing and capital work, so these figures screen entry economics rather than establish net returns.

Measured metros had median permitting of 5.2 units per 1,000 residents, 4.3 months of resale supply, 52.5 median days on market and price reductions on 28.4% of listings. The median sale-to-list ratio was 97.5%. These are separate metro distributions, not a single statewide resale profile.

Jefferson recorded 1,760 permitted units, or 20.8 per 1,000 residents, alongside 4.6 months of supply, 62 days on market and price cuts on 34.5% of listings. Hinesville had 984 permits, or 11.5 per 1,000, but also 6.6 months of supply and 75 days on market; its price-cut share was 18.9%. Dublin registered 6.7 months of supply, 76 days on market, price cuts on 34.6% of listings and a 96.5% sale-to-list ratio. Permitting therefore should not be read as a standalone measure of current acquisition leverage or exit liquidity.

Across 159 counties, the independent medians were 14.0% for housing vacancy, 28.7% for renter share and 47.5% for the share of renters spending at least 30% of income on rent. Vacancy ranged from 6.3% at the 10th percentile to 26.1% at the 90th, while rent burden ranged from 31.2% to 56.8%. The vacancy measure covers housing generally and does not identify units that are available, habitable or offered for long-term rent.

Hancock County, with 8,650 residents, had 41.2% vacancy, a 20.7% renter share and 72.2% rent burden. McIntosh County, with 11,312 residents, had 26.0% vacancy and 66.6% rent burden. Stewart County, with 4,869 residents, had lower vacancy at 15.9% but a 41.1% renter share and 66.3% rent burden. The coexistence of vacancy and burden is a warning against treating unused housing as evidence of accessible rental supply or room for rent increases.

The median county FEMA loss ratio was 0.12%, and the 90th percentile was 0.21%. McIntosh County measured 0.61%, Liberty County 0.51% and Chatham County 0.43%, each above that 90th-percentile threshold. Their measured effective property-tax rates were 0.80%, 1.04% and 0.84%, respectively, compared with a county median of 0.86%; their median tax amounts were $1,462, $2,087 and $2,541.

Each county has one mutually exclusive leading-hazard label: inland flood was the leading label in 138 counties and hurricane in 21. Those counts cover all 159 counties without overlap, but they do not show whether a particular building is exposed. The packet also lacks parcel flood characteristics, insurance quotes, deductibles and building-level mitigation, leaving a Georgia-specific underwriting gap between countywide loss ratios and property operating costs.