Living in Y’allywood ain’t as cheap as it used to be.

That’s obvious to anyone actually residing or trying to buy property in Atlanta lately, where metro-wide average home prices topped a once-unthinkable $400,000 in May last year. But now an article in the latest edition of The Hollywood Reporter aims to draw a connection between ATL’s escalating costs of living and an industry the city is growing increasingly famous for: TV and film production.

Under the headline, “Atlanta’s Home Prices Jump 10 Percent in One Year as Production Boom Fuels Home Market,” the article published in the magazine’s Jan. 5 issue indicates a bump in housing costs and Georgia’s record TV and film production last year is no coincidence. (Entertainment productions set a new bar for Peach State spending in 2022—$4.4 billion—despite earlier talk of boycotts, the magazine reports.)

Local real estate pros are cited in the article as saying how Atlanta, when it comes to housing, still enticingly gives newcomers relatively big bangs for their buck. Citing Rocket Homes data, the median price for homes with five bedrooms or more in Atlanta is reported as $1.2 million; and while average home prices overall climbed nearly 11 percent in November versus the previous year, the average sales price of $395,322 is trending down from pandemic-era highs.

“Along with ample work opportunities and Southern hospitality, Atlanta offers luxury real estate at a fraction of the price of Los Angeles or New York,” reads the report. “In the exclusive neighborhood of Buckhead, lavish estates are on the market for $4 million to $6 million, boasting amenities comparable with a $15 million home in Los Angeles.”

Town at Trilith, a New Urbanism project next to massive TV and film studios of the same name, sprouted from wheat fields south of Atlanta and now counts hundreds of homes. Courtesy of Trilith Development

Tyler Perry’s new $100 million Douglasville estate, Whitney Houston’s former Alpharetta digs, and Mariah Carey’s nine-bedroom spread currently for sale in Buckhead (asking $6 million) all get mentions. Ditto for the $8.9 million listing, a 1920s Buckhead mansion, owned by bestselling author Emily Giffin.

Major redevelopments (Ponce City Market) and forthcoming megaprojects (Centennial Yards) also score mentions, as both Midtown and downtown are amusingly described as “long something of an economically depressed cultural wasteland” where a “renaissance” is underway. (Apparently, Ed Helms, Gabrielle Union, and Jon Hamm are all fans of living short-term at PCM’s lofts while working in town.)  

The Tinseltown coverage continues a hot streak for Atlanta in terms of high-profile mentions and accolades. Most recently, the National Association of Realtors—considered America's largest trade association—named Atlanta the “top real estate market to watch in 2023 and beyond” in a December report.

• Atlanta’s Home Prices Jump 10 Percent in One Year as Production Boom Fuels Home Market (Hollywood Reporter)

• National Realtors group declares Atlanta No. 1 market to watch in 2023 (Urbanize Atlanta)