Macon housing market shifts toward buyers as listings linger longer

High demand and low housing stock in Macon drove up home prices during the pandemic, but now the market is turning in favor of buyers.

Prospective homebuyers have more options and stronger negotiating power, said Taylor Thanos, president of the Middle Georgia Association of Realtors. Prices in Middle Georgia are “more attractive” than the rest of the country, he said.

An influx of 32,810 residents into Bibb County is expected by 2050, according to a December 2025 housing study conducted by the Bibb County Planning and Zoning Commission.

But, even with Macon well below the national average in home prices, the city is still lacking when it comes to affordable housing options, he said.

“Ten years ago, you could buy a nice $150,000 house. There was just a lot of inventory,” Thanos said. “Now, for buyers to buy a $150,000 house, you’re extremely limited in the neighborhood and options.”

What homebuyers see

According to the Georgia Multiple Listing Service, a database used by real estate brokers to list properties for purchase, the average listing price in Macon was $224,000 last month. There were 507 total active listings.

Neighboring Monroe County had an average sale price of $418,381 last December, while Houston County had an average sale price of $324,000.

Nationally, the average price of a home was $433,214, while Georgia’s average price was $373,000, according to the Redfin real estate website.

Macon remains a cost leader in housing prices when compared to the rest of the country, with a larger number of properties sitting on the market for longer.

On average, homes in Macon sold within two months in November, which is on par with the rest of the United States. However, in November 2023, the median days a listing spent on the Macon market was 44 days.

Houses in Monroe County stayed on the market for 98 days while houses in Houston County stayed on the market for 74 days in November.

In 2025, a total of 1,766 residential properties were sold in Macon, according to Redfin. The average sale price for a home in Macon rose by around $42,000 between December 2024 and December 2025, while the number of homes sold in the month of December went from 104 to 122, according to the Georgia Multiple Listing Service.

Buyers have ‘more options’

In Macon, there’s no one particular neighborhood that is more popular than another, Thanos said, and buyers are more “price sensitive.”

Arizona Watkins, a broker for Gateway Realty Professionals in Macon, agreed that buyer interest is balanced across neighborhoods, albeit “North Macon will always be North Macon.”

With new construction and better market conditions, she is optimistic more buyers will enter Macon and have an easier time finding homes than in previous years.

“Folks are able to take their time and negotiate because properties are sitting on the market longer instead of having tremendous competition,” she said. “They have more options to choose from.”

Mortgage rates have risen to around the 6-7% range. But a difference between current rates and those of pandemic homebuyers, which were as low as 2.5% in mid-2020, is making potential sellers wary of trading out their cheap mortgages, the “lock-in effect,” Thanos said.

“If they purchased during the pandemic, to sell now and buy something in this market, their interest rate is probably going to be double,” Watkins added.

What about rent?

Demand for rental properties is also high, with long lists for Section 8 properties. Section 8 is a federal housing program that helps low-income households afford private rental housing by subsidizing a portion of their rent.

The 2025 study conducted by the county’s planning and zoning commission listed the number of apartment units in the county as 19,967 with an average rent of $1,057. That’s compared to roughly $1,000 in 2021.

“When we’re talking about affordable housing initiatives in this area … there’s a lot of people who can’t afford market rent in Middle Georgia,” Watkins said. “I see movement in that area, but I think we’ve got to provide more.”

Downtown draws

The weighted average rent, which accounts for differences in the number of luxury versus affordable units, of a downtown loft is $1,314, according to a 2025 market research report by NewTown Macon.

The report also emphasizes walkability in downtown Macon when compared to other apartment buildings across the city, something that NewTown is taking into account as they promote downtown living, said James Fritze, president and CEO of the nonprofit organization.

Demand for housing in downtown Macon has increased year after year, said Lauren Marshall, NewTown’s vice president of community development.

Half of the 14 apartment buildings surveyed in downtown Macon were at full capacity when the 2025 report was conducted.

Fritze said higher construction costs have driven up prices and kept supply low.

The next big downtown apartment complex is being built at the former site of the Neel’s Department Store. Neel’s Lofts will feature 95 new units of luxury housing starting at around $1,600 a month, with leasing beginning in March.

Marshall said the development features new construction with “luxury finishes and amenities,” filling a need in downtown’s rental market.

“If you’re somebody who wants brand-new finishes, top of the line, well, there’s not gonna be a lot of supply in that because there hasn’t been a lot of new construction,” Marshall added.