At 519 Canton Road, near Cumming City Center, site work is underway on a Toll Brothers community called Cloverhill. Toll expects to open sales in spring 2027. For more than a year, Forsyth County has refused most new applications to rezone land for denser housing. The freeze applies to the county accepting rezoning applications. A community with crews already moving dirt is past that stage.
If you're comparing Cumming with other north metro suburbs, this gap in timing matters more than the median price on any portal. The townhomes and smaller detached homes coming to market over the next couple of years are already under construction or on the way. The resale market they'll compete with is changing right now, and in a direction many buyers don't expect.
Inventory Is Rising Because Fewer Buyers Are Signing
In September 2026, Georgia MLS recorded 212 residential sales in Forsyth County, with a median sale price of $579,950. The more telling numbers come from comparing that month with a year earlier.
| Forsyth County, Georgia MLS | September 2025 | September 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Units sold | 242 | 212 | -12.4% |
| Units put under contract | 185 | 153 | -17.3% |
| Median sale price | $625,000 | $579,950 | -7.2% |
| New listings | 501 | 448 | -10.6% |
| Active listings | 1,136 | 1,267 | +11.5% |
Read the bottom two rows together. Fewer owners listed in September 2026 than a year earlier, yet active listings went up. That only happens when homes stay on the market longer. Supply is building because absorption has slowed. More sellers didn't rush in.
Contracts are the earliest signal of what closings will look like later, and they fell faster than closed sales: 17.3% versus 12.4%. If you take September's 1,267 active listings and divide by its 212 sales, you get roughly six months of inventory at that month's pace. That's our own rough calculation, not a figure Georgia MLS publishes.
The Median Fell in One Month. The Contract Count Has Been Falling Longer.
Forsyth's median was $625,000 in August 2026 too, so the full 7.2% drop showed up between August and September. A median drawn from about 200 sales can swing a lot depending on which homes happened to close that month. A few fewer lake or acreage closings, or a few more townhome closings, can move it on their own. One month's median is weak evidence that home values have reset.
The contract count is harder to explain away, and Forsyth isn't alone. Across the 12-county region Georgia MLS tracks, contracts in September 2026 were down 24.8% from a year earlier, while the regional median was nearly flat at $399,900, up 0.2%. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that metro pending sales fell 29% year over year in August, and quoted Georgia MLS calling the decline "more than a seasonal pause." The other metro MLS shows a similar regional picture. The Atlanta Realtors August 2026 market brief put its 11-county area at 4.7 months of supply, with homes averaging 27 days on market.
Those regional figures cover far more than Forsyth. They show that buyers across the metro are slower to sign. What's specific to Forsyth is what happens to new supply while buyers hold back.
How the Freeze Was Built
The county's pause on new residential rezoning came in stages. Each one is recorded on the Forsyth County zoning page:
- November 6, 2025: Commissioners extended the moratorium on applications to rezone land into residential and specialty districts through May 5, 2026.
- April 2, 2026: The board partially lifted it, allowing RES1 rezoning applications only.
- April 28, 2026: The board extended the moratorium through October 25, 2026, exempting new applications for RES1, MRD and MCD.
- May 21, 2026: A separate moratorium on sketch plat and land disturbance permit applications, covering residential properties zoned before April 13, 2017, was extended through November 17, 2026.
Appen Media reported that the April extension passed unanimously. The freeze started after an April 2025 resolution from the Forsyth County Board of Education. According to a county press release, the resolution asked the county and the City of Cumming to:
"take effective measures to reduce or eliminate high-density residential development."
At their October 15, 2026 meeting, commissioners took up a proposed 180-day extension that would run through April 13, 2027. The Forsyth County News covered the vote. Check the county zoning page for the resolution currently in effect before you rely on a specific end date.
What the Freeze Leaves Alone
The April 28, 2026 resolution spells out the purpose. The moratorium keeps new applications from vesting under outdated development standards while the county updates its development code and comprehensive plan, and it prohibits the county from accepting rezoning applications to residential districts, apart from the RES1, MRD and MCD exceptions. The resolution also states that it "shall have no effect on the development of properties where the density allowances under a prior residential zoning have become vested."
The freeze limits what can enter the pipeline, and projects already in it keep moving. Here's what's in it near the center of Cumming right now:
- Cloverhill, by Toll Brothers, was reported by the Forsyth County News on October 2 as 315 townhomes and houses under construction near Cumming City Center. The builder describes three collections: Alder townhomes from about 1,900 square feet, Juniper townhomes from about 2,633 square feet, and Wildflower detached homes from about 2,319 square feet. Sales are expected to open in spring 2027, and no pricing has been published.
- Alder Creek, a townhome community near downtown Cumming, could reach 183 homes. The Forsyth County News reported in September that a new builder was taking over and that the plan for its final seven lots had changed. Taylor Morrison now markets it, and recently listed four-bedroom, three-story townhomes of roughly 2,360 square feet starting at $499,990.
That Alder Creek starting price sits about $80,000 below the county's September median. For a buyer comparing areas, that's the practical effect of the pipeline. The lower-priced, newer housing reaching central Cumming over the next year or two is already under construction or being sold. The freeze affects which new rezoning requests can join it.
Where the Next Decision Gets Made
What comes after depends on the county's next long-range plan. Forsyth County launched its Foster Forsyth 2027 comprehensive plan update with a public hearing on October 15, 2026, and expects to adopt it in fall 2027. The county's announcement describes it as a year-long effort that will guide future land use and housing policy. The county's development code was on Version 135 as of October 1, 2026, and its recent amendments haven't included new residential density standards.
The timing works out like this. Cloverhill and Alder Creek deliver over roughly the same stretch the county spends writing its next plan. Any denser project that starts approval under the new rules would reach buyers later still. If you're buying in Cumming in the next year or so, the attached-home supply nearby is largely already visible. If you're thinking further out, the plan hearings are where that supply gets decided.
A note for current owners deciding whether to sell into this market: a Forsyth County homestead exemption includes a floating exemption. It freezes the home's net assessed value for county maintenance and operations and fire taxes at a base year set when the owner applies. School and state taxes still use the current year's value. The Board of Assessors' exemptions page explains how the base year works. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice, so please confirm how these rules apply to your property with the Board of Assessors or a tax professional.
Quick Answers
Did Cumming home prices drop 7% in fall 2026? Forsyth County's Georgia MLS median fell from $625,000 in September 2025 to $579,950 in September 2026, and all of that drop showed up between August and September. With about 200 sales in a month, the mix of homes that close can move the median a lot. The 17.3% decline in contracts is the steadier signal.
Does the rezoning freeze stop new townhomes from being built near Cumming City Center? The moratorium stops the county from accepting most new residential rezoning applications. The April 28 resolution states that it has no effect on developing properties where density allowances under a prior residential zoning have vested. Cloverhill and Alder Creek are both under construction or being sold this fall.
Which areas does the county moratorium cover? It covers unincorporated Forsyth County. The county zoning page notes that properties inside the City of Cumming limits fall outside its zoning districts.
If you own a home in Forsyth County and want to know where it fits in a market where listings are piling up and buyers are slower to commit, the team at Bondy Prestigious Properties can show you how September's numbers compare with homes like yours, including the new townhomes nearby. Get Your Home Valuation, and we'll walk you through the pricing decisions that matter this fall.
