Atlanta Mayor Wants To Restrict ‘iBuyers’

“With a booming economy and major corporations increasingly locating operations in his city, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said that he wants the government to find ways to place restrictions on property investors who are contributing to a surge in the region’s home prices.” A Bloomberg article by Brett Pulley and Michael Sasso outlines the mayor’s reasoning for wanting to keep investors from buying up homes. 

Inspired by the federal Community Reinvestment Act, Dickens wants to protect homebuyers from being pushed out by “iBuyers” like Zillow, “tech-powered players that buy homes using algorithms and flip properties, including selling to landlords backed by Wall Street firms.” According to the article, median home prices in Atlanta rose by 14 percent between April 2021 and April 2022.

“Dickens, 47, also said that he wants corporations that open or expand operations in Atlanta to do so with a commitment to hire about 30% of their workforce from local residents.” Dickens points to the recent opening of a Microsoft facility in Midtown Atlanta, which led to the quick sale of homes on the market in that area—many to investors.

The source article also describes Dickens’s background and his plans to address crime and repair relationships in the fast-growing city.