Investors who acquired Class A industrial properties in Atlanta’s top submarkets as recently as four months ago are now facing immediate valuation losses of 20% or more, according to a broker directly involved in current transactions.
These price declines are already evident in live deal data, though they have not yet been reflected in published market reports. Daniel Levin, Senior Associate at CorePoint RE, reports that properties in prime areas like Norcross and Peachtree Corners, which sold for over $150 per square foot in late 2025, are now struggling to attract offers above $130 per square foot.
“Class A product in the best pocket in Norcross, in Peachtree Corners, we saw investors put offers together at $150 plus a foot,” Levin says. “That was common for us four months ago. Now, the same sort of property, we’re not seeing buyers go over $130.”
Unreported Market Shift
Levin says the price drop is affecting both institutional investors and smaller family offices, indicating that the downturn is not confined to any single buyer type. Rather than being triggered by a specific event, the correction reflects a broader reassessment of market risk.
“Those who purchased the building for $150, $160 a foot four months ago, instant loss of 20% on the building in terms of what they can sell it for today,” Levin notes. This rapid decline is occurring even as published metrics still indicate market stability.
The gap between official market data and actual deal activity gives brokers and other active participants an advantage, allowing them to observe pricing changes before they are reflected in quarterly reports. Levin’s firm tracks these shifts by monitoring offer trends across multiple ongoing transactions, rather than relying solely on lagging indicators.
Buyers who competed aggressively for Atlanta industrial assets just months ago have now lowered their price ceilings, establishing a new market-clearing price. Many sellers have not yet adjusted to this reality, resulting in longer marketing periods and more failed deals.
Atlanta as a Bellwether for Industrial Markets
Atlanta’s price correction may foreshadow similar valuation pressures in other Sunbelt industrial hubs. Levin observes that comparable patterns are emerging in other Southeast markets, but Atlanta appears to be the first to reprice so dramatically.
A 20% drop in just four months marks a sharp reversal. If this rate continued, it would result in severe annualized losses for property owners. While Levin does not expect the pace to remain this extreme, he notes that the correction signals that late-2025 pricing has become disconnected from underlying demand.
This environment exposes the risks of acquisition strategies driven by recent sales comparisons. Investors who bought properties based on high comps from just a few months ago are now finding that those benchmarks no longer apply. This presents particular difficulties for acquisition groups that raised capital based on fixed-return expectations.
Levin points to contrasting outcomes in different regions: “You have those who purchased out in Doral, those who purchased by Miami International in 2020—the site was bought for less than $20 million, and it was just sold a couple of months back for $52 million. That type of appreciation is hard to predict.” This underscores how quickly fortunes can change depending on market timing.
Brokerage View on Market Timing
For brokers, Atlanta’s price correction brings both obstacles and opportunities. Sellers who bought at the market’s peak are reluctant to accept current values, while buyers have collectively decided that previous price points are no longer justified.
“It’s the trillion-dollar question,” Levin says about the challenge of timing market entry and exit. “But if done right, and if done analytically, if thought out, if the numbers back it up, then we’re seeing investors make decisions. And a lot of the time, they make the right call. But that’s not to say that they don’t make the wrong call from time to time.”
The Atlanta market demonstrates that some investors who made what appeared to be sound purchases in late 2025 are now facing rapid losses due to mistimed acquisitions. Whether this is a short-term correction or the start of a longer repricing cycle will become clear only over the next several quarters.
One fact remains: brokers with access to real-time transaction data are detecting these price shifts ahead of official reports. For investors relying on backward-looking statistics, this delay in recognizing market changes may result in significant financial losses.
