Real estate prices for property in the Atlanta area slowed down a bit at the beginning of summer, but now Atlanta home prices are up 11.2 percent from this time in 2013. In fact, Atlanta is among nine cities throughout the United States that posted double-digit gains in home prices, according to the recent Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Despite this growth in value, Atlanta has a different trend that is popular in the area: the amount of homes underwater.

Moving to Atlanta is increasingly competitive because in addition to a slow in new construction, the large amount of homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages is directly linked to the amount of homes available for sale. Unfortunately, the underwater mortgage becomes a problem for existing homeowners as well as prospective homeowners.

Atlanta’s average home prices have come a long way since hitting bottom in March of 2012: the average price since then is up 43.6 percent. And in some areas, they may very well be above those previous peaks. On the flip side, some neighborhoods are still slow in gaining momentum and are dragging down the value of the metro as a whole. On average, Atlanta prices are roughly 12.4 percent below their peak, which was reached in August of 2006. The amount of underwater homes is improving, but it is still a large chunk of the local homeowners. In conclusion, higher home prices aren’t enough to detract from the top ranking for homeowners with negative equity.