Like many of its suburban counterparts across the country, DeKalb, Georgia, pending sales have suddenly entered positive territory after months of downward trends.

The suburban-Atalanta region covered by DeKalb Association of Realtors, is experiencing a resurgence in pending sales -- up 21 percent from July 2007 to July 2008. In August, pending sales have surged 43 percent over the same time as last year.

Pending home sales measure the number of homes under contract but not yet sold. While all other benchmark figures for the metro Atlanta county area, such as inventory and prices, were down from last year, the pending sales numbers demonstrate that buyers are getting back into the game.

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, says his economic stimulus plans implemented earlier this year have begun to take root in job growth in areas such as DeKalb County. Interviewed by the Dawson Times, Governor Perdue said the plan results “represent a strong upward trend for Georgia, with investment increasing 17 percent over fiscal 2007 and jobs increasing 13.1 percent over the same period. The number of announcements increased 14.2 percent as well.”

Forbes.com recently released its annual ranking of the best states for business. Gov. Perdue pointed out the Peach State moved up to 5th, the biggest jump of any state.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports Georgia ranks 11th in the United States for economic growth and has become the fastest growing economic machine in the Southeast.

Published: September 26, 2008

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Mr. Carr is an award-winning real estate broker in Northern Virginia and authored "Real Estate Investing Made Simple: a commonsense approach to building wealth." He also contributed to Donald Trump’s book, "The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received," and is an active trainer and coach of top producers in the Washington DC market. As a sought-after expert on real estate, Mr. Carr has been featured on CNN, various broadcast outlets and was the former real estate editor for The Washington Times. He accepts questions at his blog www.RealEstateOlogy.org.