Pittsburg in Atlanta

[Jon Baker]

I'm confused on why the prices in Pittsburgh are so high. It's not a very safe area, more houses are run down than not and there are much better communities nearby that have lower, albeit marginally lower, comps- including ones on/near the beltline. Not sure if it's out of state investors that aren't familiar with the area or the allure of the Pittsburgh yards/beltline nearby but I would say that a majority of Pittsburgh is not great and there are significantly better areas for the prices I see in Pittsburgh. As an Atlanta resident, maybe I'm having too pessimistic of a viewpoint and not seeing the potential but it just doesn't add up to me. I would guess it's based on speculation that's baked in but I don't see how it's worth the risk- especially when Pittsburgh yards seems to be much less of an attractive retail destination compared to other beltline developments (west end development, Ponce, potentially Murphy Crossing..). I get the market is red hot right now but it doesn't make sense to me. Thoughts?

I mean: $400k for a duplex with a 1/1 on each side less than (what looks to be) 700 sq feet on less than a tenth of an acre? It's been on the market for a while (which is unusual in this market, which indicates it's overpriced) but the fact that investors could think properties could get that high is representative of the overall sentiment of the area right now, from what I see.