Skip to Main Content
Metro Atlanta

Study: Two Cobb spots among the healthiest housing markets in Georgia

Ben Brasch
By Ben Brasch

If it seems like Cobb County homes don’t stay on the market long and folks stay in them for a while, a study agrees.

SmartAsset, a New York-based personal finance technology company, recently released a study that found two spots in Cobb are among the healthiest housing markets in Georgia.

Smyrna came in at eighth, and Mableton placed 10th.

SmartAsset said it looked at 2016 U.S. Census Bureau 5-Year American Community Survey data and Zillow to make a ranking using four factors:

READ | Money magazine names a place in Cobb the best place to live in Georgia

• Stability, defined by how long people remain in their homes and the percentage of homeowners with negative equity (when the value of the property has fallen below the outstanding balance of the mortgage)

• Risk, calculated by looking at the percentage of homes that have decreased in value

• Housing market fluidity, determined by how long a home stays on the market (generally, the longer it takes to sell then the less fluid the market)

• Affordability, quantified by the monthly cost of owning a home as a percentage of household income in each area

Affordability accounted for 40 percent of index number, while the other three were split evenly at 20 percent each. If data for the four factors wasn’t available, the municipalities weren’t included.

Here's the breakdown for Smyrna:

Folks stay in their homes nearly 11 years. (For Georgia, that number is about 16 years.)

The average number of homes with negative equity is 13.4 percent. (Georgia: 12.6 percent)

Overall, 9.3 percent of homes are decreasing in value. (Georgia: 41.1 percent)

A home stays on the market about 75 days. (Georgia: about 156 days)

The monthly cost of owning a home as a percentage of household income is 19.8 percent. (Georgia: 26.6 percent)

The average number of homes with negative equity is 18.2 percent.

Overall, 9.6 percent of homes are decreasing in value.

A home stays on the market about 55 days.

The monthly cost of owning a home as a percentage of household income is 21 percent.

READ | These are some of Cobb County's hottest jobs, according to the Census

When you break down one of the four factors, it shows that three Cobb cities — Austell, Powder Springs and Kennesaw — were found to have the least risky markets statewide.

The overall Georgia number is that 41.1 percent of homes are decreasing in value. That number is 5.6 percent in Austell, 5.8 percent in Powder Springs and 7.2 percent in Kennesaw.