Before the recession began in 2008, Atlanta was one of the fastest growing communities in the entire United States. However, like a number of other cities such as Las Vegas and Orlando, a high percentage of the Atlanta real estate market was based on new construction; whether on the vacant land required for projects, the raw materials for the builders, or labor costs. While this was a rapidly growing segment of the economy prior to the advent of the recession, once the real estate bubble burst, it was among the most devastated sectors nationwide. In the words of economist Roger Tutterow of the Stetson School of Business at Mercer University, “This is not a surprise - Georgia has been rising a little higher than the national average, that reflects the heavy exposure that our economy has had to real estate, especially construction, and the professional services that are linked to real estate.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that this was a contributing factor to the deepening financial crisis unique to Georgia. “The state has lost 209,500 jobs since June of last year - more than one in every 20. The over-the-year losses came in professional and business services, including temporary employment agencies, manufacturing, trade, transportation and warehousing, and in the construction industry.” There is something of a silver lining to all of this dismal economic news - it results in low housing prices and consequently a buyer's market. According to Realtors Becky Veal and Wade Mor, “Now is the time to be buying as there is $8000 from the federal government for anyone who has not owned a home in the last three years and the state of Georgia has another $1800.”
One of the largest real estate funding banks in the Atlanta region, Fidelity Southern Corporation, has been seeing signs of improvement in Atlanta Real Estate. Based on an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “the company, which operates Fidelity Bank, one of the largest community banks in the state, said the Atlanta real estate market is 'very near' stabilization.” The President of Fidelity Southern, however, cautioned that “We are starting to see some encouraging signs out there in the marketplace, it's too early to call it a trend, though.”