Georgia Q2 2025 Insights
Looking back on Q2 and approaching the end of the year, Georgia’s land market has been in better shape than many expected. After several years of appreciation, the pace of transactions has cooled, but values have largely held. Buyers haven’t disappeared; they’re simply more selective, more patient, and more cost-driven than they were in previous years. High borrowing costs have introduced discipline into the market, which has resulted in slower deal flow without a major impact on values.
Market Pulse
Hunting and Recreational properties continue to attract interest, especially tracts that offer both enjoyment and long-term investment potential. The state saw over 25,000 acres of hunting and recreational land transacted during Q2 2025. Values vary widely by region, generally averaging in the $4,000s per acre across the state of Georgia.
Transitional land near growth corridors is also still in the conversation, but developers have tapped the brakes. They’re slower to commit, due diligence periods are stretching, and more projects are getting pushed into 2026 planning cycles.
According to verified sales data, Q2 timberland transactions represented 32% of all acres sold. This might come as a surprise considering pulp and paper demand is softer than it was two years ago forcing wood markets to adjust. However, long-term fundamentals are still supported by steady housing demand, wildlife benefits, and the emerging renewable-energy economy.
Policy & Energy Watch
The Georgia Public Service Commission elections this November matter more than usual. Energy policy is now directly tied to land use. Earlier this year, the PSC approved new rules requiring any new large-load customer above 100 MW to carry full service costs. Georgia Power’s planning outlook now assumes substantial new generation capacity over the next six years, much of it to serve data-center growth. That could eventually translate into new demand streams for woody biomass and small-diameter wood.
At the federal level, Farm Bill reauthorization is still unresolved, and the current government shutdown has paused many USDA/NRCS functions. Cost-share reimbursements, loan processing, and new enrollments are moving slower, which is something timberland owners and farmers should factor into their timing and cash-flow expectations as they head into winter.
Outlook for Landowners
As we finish out the year, the deals that will most likely close are the well-positioned and well-timed ones. Land with income producing leases, improvements, and recreational benefits remain the most resilient.
One additional pressure point to watch is the economic stress that row crop operators are facing. Between rising input costs, weak commodity prices, and costly capital, farmers are experiencing downward pressures on what are already thin margins. If those pressures persist into spring, we could see more farm tracts come to market as producers exit or consolidate. Should that happen at scale, an imbalance in supply and demand would likely translate into lower valuations.
For landowners in general, only time will tell how rates, prices, and policy will shake out. It’s a period to remain watchful of the signals that matter most in your corner of the market. What happens over the winter and into spring will give us a better indication of where values are headed.
All transaction data presented in this report is derived from several sources, including public records and independent entities. Each transaction is individually verified by the Saunders Research team within Atlas, Saunders Real Estate’s market intelligence platform. These reports are not intended to represent a complete record of all market activity due to delays in publicly available records, but aim to provide the most reliable and transparent representation of the verifiable data available at the time of publication.