Cap rates by segment
Every row is a median of active listings that publish enough rent data to screen. A median needs at least 10 listings and a middle-half range needs 12. Rows below that show the count only. DSCR is at the asking price under the loan terms in the method note.
| Segment | Listings (n) | Median cap | Middle half | Median $/door | Median DSCR at ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia apartment buildings (5+ units) | 16 | 5.27% | 4.2 to 6.6% | $155,000 | 0.89x |
| Georgia 2 to 4 units | 129 | 5.40% | 4.8 to 6.6% | $190,000 | 0.90x |
| Georgia, all 2+ units | 145 | 5.40% | 4.6 to 6.6% | $188,000 | 0.90x |
| Core Metro Atlanta (13 counties) | 105 | 5.32% | 4.4 to 6.4% | $200,000 | 0.89x |
| Georgia outside Core Metro | 40 | 5.88% | 4.8 to 7.5% | $149,000 | 0.98x |
| City of Atlanta, all 2+ units | 50 | 5.28% | 4.3 to 6.6% | $217,000 | 0.88x |
| City of Atlanta, 2 to 4 units | 45 | 5.39% | 4.8 to 6.6% | $225,000 | 0.90x |
| City of Atlanta, 5+ units | 5 | Not enough listings for a median | |||
| Core Metro Atlanta, 5+ units | 8 | Not enough listings for a median | |||
| Outside Core Metro, 5+ units | 8 | Not enough listings for a median | |||
Atlanta apartment cap rates
Inside the City of Atlanta, 50 active 2+ unit listings carry enough rent data to screen. The median going-in cap is 5.28% and the middle half runs 4.3% to 6.6%, at a median $217,000 per door. Most of that set is duplexes to fourplexes (45 of 50). Only 5 in-city listings with 5 or more units had usable rents, which is too few for an honest Atlanta-only apartment median. For 5+ unit pricing, the Georgia apartment median of 5.27% is the better anchor, and closed sales matter more than asks.
Across the 13-county Core Metro, the median is 5.32% (n=105). Outside it, 5.88% (n=40). Higher in-town prices per door push metro caps down. That gap is what you are paying for: deeper renter demand and easier resale, not a higher yield.
Browse what is listed now: apartment buildings for sale in Atlanta and apartment buildings for sale in Georgia. A church leased to a congregation is priced on the same NOI and cap rate math; see churches for sale in Georgia. Retail, office and industrial buildings use the same formula with lease terms in place of a rent roll; compare commercial properties for sale in Georgia. Land has no cap rate until it is built on, and a tenant compares the same buildings by rent, so see land for sale in Georgia and commercial space for lease in Georgia for the other side of the market. Send me a listing and I will check its cap rate against these ranges.
By county
| County | Listings (n) | Median cap | Median $/door | Clears 1.25x DSCR at ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fulton County | 48 | 5.88% | $200,000 | 23% |
| DeKalb County | 19 | 5.03% | $249,000 | 5% |
| Gwinnett County | 11 | 4.81% | $195,000 | 0% |
| Cobb County | 10 | 5.25% | $200,000 | 0% |
Below the 10-listing gate this snapshot, so no median shown: Clayton County (n=6), Henry County (n=1), Cherokee County (n=4), Bibb County (n=6), Muscogee County (n=2), Clarke County (n=2).
By city
A city gets a median only when it has at least 10 screenable listings in the snapshot. Most Georgia cities do not, so those rows show the count and a link to the live listings instead of a number built on three or four asks.
| City | Listings (n) | Median cap | Middle half | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | 50 | 5.28% | 4.3% to 6.6% | Atlanta apartment buildings for sale |
| Macon | 6 | Not enough listings for a median | Macon apartment buildings for sale | |
| Decatur | 6 | Not enough listings for a median | Decatur apartment buildings for sale | |
| Conyers | 5 | Not enough listings for a median | Conyers apartment buildings for sale | |
| Rome | 4 | Not enough listings for a median | Rome apartment buildings for sale | |
| Marietta | 4 | Not enough listings for a median | Marietta apartment buildings for sale | |
| Lawrenceville | 4 | Not enough listings for a median | Lawrenceville apartment buildings for sale | |
| Smyrna | 4 | Not enough listings for a median | Smyrna apartment buildings for sale | |
| East Point | 3 | Not enough listings for a median | East Point apartment buildings for sale | |
| Forest Park | 3 | Not enough listings for a median | Forest Park apartment buildings for sale | |
| Snellville | 3 | Not enough listings for a median | Snellville apartment buildings for sale | |
What a cap rate tells you on an apartment listing
Cap rate is net operating income divided by price. It is the yield you would earn if you paid cash, before the mortgage. On a listing it answers one question: at this ask, how much income does each dollar buy? It does not tell you cash flow after debt (that is DSCR and cash-on-cash return), and it is only as good as the NOI behind it.
A higher cap is not automatically a better deal. In Georgia it usually tracks age, location and how much work the building needs. A 9% cap on a 1970s building with original plumbing in a thin rental market can be a worse buy than a 5.5% cap on a renovated building near jobs. For a faster first pass that skips expenses, use the gross rent multiplier.
Why listing cap rates are not market cap rates
- Asking, not sold. Every number here is on the list price. Buyers who close below ask get a higher cap than shown.
- Seller-reported rents. Rents come from the listing (rent roll or MLS gross income). They are not audited. Leases, collections and concessions need to be checked.
- Standardized expenses. Expenses are a uniform screen (vacancy, tax, insurance, management, repairs), not the building's T-12. Older buildings and owner-paid utilities usually run heavier.
- Seller cap rates are ignored. The cap rate typed into a listing is often pro forma. It is not used here.
- Small samples. Georgia has a thin apartment listing market. A county with ten listings can swing a full point when two sell.
How to check the cap rate on a listing
- Get the rent roll. Ask the listing broker for the current rent roll with lease dates. Use in-place rents, not market or pro forma rents.
- Build gross income. Annualize the in-place rents, add other income (laundry, fees), and subtract vacancy and credit loss, typically 5% to 8% for older Georgia buildings.
- Subtract real operating expenses. Use the T-12 and add anything missing: property tax at your purchase price, insurance quote, management (8% to 10%), repairs, turnover, owner-paid utilities and reserves.
- Divide NOI by price. Cap rate = NOI / purchase price. Run it at the ask and at your offer price.
- Compare to the right benchmark. Compare to the median for the same segment on this page, then to closed sales of similar size and age. Asking caps are a ceiling on price, not a floor.
How these numbers are built
Source: active FMLS Residential Income listings in Georgia on the jeffcrowecre.com feed, snapshot dated 2026-10-26. Of 263 active listings, 146 had enough rent data to publish a yield (unit rent roll 111, MLS gross income 31, building-total rent row 3). Listings outside a 2% to 15% sanity band were dropped (1), leaving 145. Loan terms for DSCR at ask: 5+ units 30% down, 7% rate, 25-year amortization; 2 to 4 units 25% down, 7% rate, 30-year amortization.
Spot-checked before publish: every included cap rate was re-derived as NOI divided by ask, every debt service figure was recomputed from the ask and loan terms, and every DSCR as NOI divided by debt service (0 mismatches). Only aggregates are published. Listing data is from the listing brokers via FMLS and is not verified.
Snapshot 2026-10-26. All 145 screenable 2+ unit listings statewide: median 5.40%; 2 to 4 units 5.40% (n=129).