Spotlight On: Corey Deal, Executive Officer, Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association
April 2025 — In an interview with Invest:, Corey Deal, executive officer of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, discussed the organization’s role in Atlanta’s housing market. “We represent the residential construction industry across a 10-county footprint in the metro Atlanta area,” Deal explained. He highlighted efforts to address affordability, workforce development, and sustainability through programs like EarthCraft. “We want to create better collaboration with local governments; between our industry and the communities,” he said.
Would you provide an overview of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association?
We’re a 501(c)(6) trade association that represents the residential construction industry across a 10-county footprint in the metro Atlanta area. Among our 1,200 company members, approximately 50% are builder members — from single-family and detached residential to land development and remodeling. While the majority are residential-focused, we do have some commercial members as well.
The other 50% are associate members, which is everyone else. These companies range from lumber companies to mortgage professionals — anyone that has a role in the process of developing, building, and selling a home that is not the actual builder. We’re a part of the National Association of Home Builders and the Home Builders Association of Georgia. At any given time, we’re the fourth to sixth largest in the country. We’re the largest home builders association in Georgia.
What makes Atlanta a strong home-building market, and how is the association helping the region differentiate itself from other metro areas?
Atlanta is a great market because it consists of many thriving communities and job centers throughout the region, not just within the city itself. The economy is strong, supported by major assets like the airport, top-tier schools, and higher education institutions within an hour’s drive. The area also boasts strong tech programs and a robust job market, making it an attractive destination for people moving to Georgia.
From a home-building perspective, our role is to ensure that builders can deliver high-quality homes across the market. We collaborate with local municipalities on permit processes and the timeline for transforming land into homes, working closely to streamline the development process.
What trends are emerging or ongoing in home construction, and how is the market shifting?
The main challenge right now is affordability. Homes are expensive due to several factors, including government regulations, which add costs. In Georgia, approximately 28% of a home’s price comes from fees and regulatory expenses. Additionally, material costs and limited land availability drive prices higher. With a constrained housing supply and obstacles to turning land into homes, prices continue to rise.
What makes this market stand out is the availability of unique and strong communities across the metro area, there’s a community for everyone. Most areas have strong public schools, which, along with job opportunities, make the metro market very attractive. However, the biggest challenge remains affordability and ensuring that homes are within reach for those looking to buy.
Are buyers gravitating toward mixed-use developments, townhomes, or traditional single-family homes?
To keep housing within an attainable range for most incomes, townhomes are the best option because they allow for higher density, which helps maintain affordability, or rather, attainability. That said, different municipalities and counties have varying preferences as it relates to the type of developments our members are allowed to provide.
Different markets have different trends. For example, in Milton and east Cherokee County, homes tend to have larger lot sizes at higher price points. In the city centers of Alpharetta and Woodstock, there’s more density, with condos and townhomes. Large counties such as Clayton, Forsyth, Gwinnett, and Henry, tend to offer a more balanced mix of townhomes and single-family detached with varying lot sizes and price points. When the market allows for townhome development, they provide the best path to attainable housing. The live, work, play mantra of the mixed-use developments definitely leads those areas to have increased density and more diversity of housing stock available.
How is the association advocating for homebuilders in the Atlanta region?
Workforce development is a big piece of what we do in both the residential and broader construction industry, as there is a significant shortage of qualified labor. We have a partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Atlanta, where we run a spring semester program that teaches a cohort of students the process of turning raw land into a home. Through interactive sessions once a week over three months, they gain hands-on experience and industry insight.
We also collaborate with municipalities on various issues, including addressing fees that may be overly burdensome. If we find certain fees excessive, we engage in discussions to find solutions that work for both sides. Additionally, we work on zoning ordinances and residential design standards, ensuring that communities are well-planned and attractive while balancing government regulations with market-driven aesthetics. Our goal is to advocate for builders while working with local governments to create thriving, sustainable communities where our members and their families also live.
How are you advising members on current uncertainties in the market?
Our members know their businesses better than we do, so we don’t directly advise them on cost management. However, as an organization, we actively advocate against tariffs, particularly on lumber. While the U.S. has sufficient timber, there aren’t enough mills to process it into usable building materials, which forces reliance on imports. The issue isn’t a shortage of trees but a lack of processing capacity, making tariffs on imported lumber a challenge for the industry.
On the regulatory front, some recent federal-level deregulation under the new administration is benefiting the homebuilding industry. Given that construction tends to be heavily regulated, reducing unnecessary constraints can help ease some of the pressures builders face. We continue to work on policies that support a more stable and cost-effective building environment.
How are you promoting responsible and sustainable homebuilding?
We’re seeing a strong push toward resiliency in homebuilding due to climate change and related challenges. Our key initiative in this space is EarthCraft, a green building certification program we run in partnership with the Southface Institute. This voluntary program allows our members to implement energy-efficient building practices while maintaining cost-effectiveness.
The EarthCraft Council explores various energy-efficient alternatives for home construction, with our approach focused on incentivization rather than mandates. We believe that by providing incentives, builders can adopt sustainable practices in a way that makes financial sense. Through our organization, EarthCraft remains our primary vehicle for promoting energy efficiency and resiliency in home construction.
What is your outlook for the home building market in Atlanta, and what are the association’s top priorities over the next two to three years?
The top priorities for the association are, first and foremost, to grow our membership by providing value to the industry. A key part of this is fostering stronger collaboration between homebuilders and local governments to ensure we build thriving communities together.
Second, workforce development remains a major focus. We have successful programs in place, including our partnership with the Boys and Girls Club and our work with the Kennesaw State University residential construction student chapter. Moving forward, we aim to expand relationships with local tech schools to strengthen the skilled trade workforce for our builder members and trades in the residential construction space.
Regarding the market outlook, interest rates remain a significant factor. Many buyers are still on the sidelines due to high rates, which have also contributed to low inventory in the existing home market. However, the new home market remains strong. As the new administration stabilizes after President Trump’s first 100 days, more clarity on economic policies and potential rate relief could bring buyers back into the market. While I can’t predict the future, I anticipate a healthy and steady market in the latter half of the year.
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