Buying in Atlanta: the full guide

What homes cost

In August 2026 the median sale price in the Atlanta Core area was $400,000 according to Georgia MLS, down 1.7% on August 2025 and 4.8% on July's $420,000. There were 22,897 active listings, 3% more than a year earlier. Georgia MLS describes a market that has moved from buyers competing for homes to homes competing for buyers. Treat that as a description of the moment, not a forecast. "Atlanta Core" is the grouping used in that report, and other sources define the area differently, so their figures will not match.

The suburbs differ widely. Decatur is in DeKalb County, Marietta in Cobb County, and Alpharetta and Roswell are in north Fulton. The Tax Foundation figures below come from 2024 survey data, so they are older than the sales figures above.

How Georgia property tax works

Georgia values every home each year as of 1 January and assesses it at 40% of fair market value. The tax is the assessed value multiplied by the mill rate, and one mill is $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value. The mill rate is set separately by the county, by the city if the home is inside one, and by the school district, so it changes at every boundary. On a home worth $450,000 the assessed value is $180,000 and each mill adds $180 a year, by our arithmetic. Ask the county tax commissioner for the total mill rate at the address. If you think the value is too high, you have 45 days from the date the assessment notice was mailed to appeal.

The homestead exemption is for owners who live in the home. Fulton County's assessors list $30,000 off the assessed value for county tax and $2,000 off for school tax, with a further $30,000 against the city's own levies for homes in the City of Atlanta. You must occupy the home on 1 January and apply by 1 April. A European who lives abroad or lets the home does not qualify, so your bill will be higher than the county median in the table.

Two recent reforms concern how fast the taxable value can rise. House Bill 581, passed in 2024, created a statewide floating homestead exemption that limits the yearly rise in a homestead's taxable value to inflation, with 2024 as the base year for homes first receiving it in 2025. Local governments and school districts could opt out in early 2025, and House Bill 92, signed in April 2025, let those that had done so reverse the decision by set deadlines. In May 2026 Governor Kemp signed Senate Bill 33 which, according to WABE, prevents local governments and school districts from opting out. Check from which tax year it applies at the address. The cap applies only to homesteads, and it limits the assessed value, not the mill rate. Fulton's guide also describes a separate local cap: its base value rises by the lesser of inflation or 3% a year, and by 2.6% for the City of Atlanta, and the owner receives whichever exemption is more favourable.

Georgia is an attorney state

In 2003 the Supreme Court of Georgia approved a ruling that only a licensed Georgia attorney may prepare a deed of conveyance or facilitate its signing. The court listed the deed types, including the security deed that secures a mortgage, held that a lawyer cannot delegate the closing to a non-lawyer, and required an attorney to be physically present for the preparation and execution of the deed. It rejected "witness-only" closings run by notaries or signing agents.

In most of continental Europe a civil-law notary is a neutral public officer who certifies one deed for both sides. A Georgia closing attorney is a private lawyer, so ask in writing whom the attorney acts for. If the answer is not you, you can have your own attorney review the contract and the closing documents. Also ask early how a buyer who lives in Europe signs, because the documents are executed under the attorney's supervision and you should not assume a remote signing is possible.

One cost is specific to Georgia. An intangible recording tax of $1.50 for each $500 of the loan, capped at $25,000 per security instrument, is due within 90 days of signing. That is 0.3% of the loan, or $960 on a $320,000 loan, by our arithmetic. Ask the attorney for a full list of closing costs before the day.

Insurance and storms

Atlanta is inland, so the main hazards are wind and hail rather than coastal flooding. The National Weather Service office for the area says that nearly all hailstorms strike between February and August, with April the most favoured month, and that damaging wind is frequent, with more damaging wind days in July than in any other month. That wind figure comes from a study of 1955 to 1993, so it shows the pattern, not a current count.

Cost is the more immediate issue. WABE reported in March 2026 that Georgia home insurance premiums rose 24% between 2023 and 2025 and were projected to rise by a further 10% by the end of 2026, after the losses from Hurricane Helene in 2024. Get quotes before you make an offer. Ask about the age of the roof, whether the wind and hail deductible is a percentage of the insured value, and whether the lot is in a mapped flood zone, because flood is not always part of a home policy.

Income tax and the non-resident position

Georgia's income tax is a single flat rate. A law signed in May 2026 lowered it from 5.19% to 4.99% for 2026 and raised the standard deduction to $15,000 for a single filer and $30,000 for joint filers. According to WABE, the rate is scheduled to fall by 0.125 percentage points a year until it reaches 3.99%. If you move to Atlanta for work, this is the state layer on top of your federal tax.

If you own a home here and live in Europe, the federal rule on rent is the one to know: a non-resident is taxed at 30% of gross rental income unless they elect to be taxed on net income, which allows deductions. How Georgia treats the same income, how withholding works when a non-resident sells, and how US estate tax applies to a non-resident owner, are questions for a cross-border tax adviser and the closing attorney before you sign.

Financing at Atlanta prices

The 2026 conforming loan limit is $832,750 for a one-unit home in Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Cobb counties. That is well above the $400,000 median sale price in the Atlanta Core area and above the $458,800 median home value in Fulton County, so most purchases fit standard lending. A larger home in a north Fulton suburb can take you into jumbo lending, where each lender applies its own rules.

If you are relocating on a visa and will live in the home, read the guide on work visas and the mortgage. If you will keep living in Europe, a foreign national loan is the usual route.

If you plan to let it

The City of Atlanta requires a short-term rental licence. According to local reporting on the ordinance, which took effect in 2022, the licence costs $150 a year and covers at most two properties, one of which must be the owner's primary residence, evidenced by a utility bill from six months before the application. The same report says people who do not live in the city cannot operate rentals there, that licences cannot be transferred and that violations carry a $300 penalty. We could not open the city's own page, so confirm these rules with the Department of City Planning.

If that is right, a buyer who lives in Europe cannot run a short let in the city. Decatur, Marietta, Roswell, Alpharetta and the Gwinnett towns each set their own rules, which we have not verified. Ask the municipality, and check the homeowners' association rules on letting, before you count on rental income.

Getting home

The airport's air-service page says Hartsfield-Jackson connects to over 150 domestic and 70 international destinations in 43 countries. Its airline page lists Delta among the domestic carriers, and Air France, British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, SAS, Virgin Atlantic and Turkish Airlines among the foreign airlines. We could not confirm from the airport which European cities have nonstop flights this winter, so check the carriers' timetables for your own city before you plan to split your year between two continents.

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