W.A. BRIDGES JR. / Staff Rachel Devlin, her three kids -- (from left) Gannon, 4, Liam, 8, and Ella, 2 -- and dog Stuart love their new home in Southampton, just off Ga. 74.   Related: COMPARE PRICES BY ZIP CODE • Complete Home Report 2004

"We really liked Peachtree City, but we could get so much more for our money in Tyrone," Devlin's wife, Rachel, said recently at her two-story brick home in Southampton, a sprawling new John Wieland development off Ga. 74. "We could build here and get a lot more bang for our buck."

The Devlins represent a shift in the residential real estate market in Fayette County. Experts say more home buyers are choosing Tyrone -- a mostly rural community along Ga. 74 between Peachtree City and Fairburn -- over more congested communities.

Countywide, Fayette had 657 new home sales in 2003, down from 715 the previous year, according to data provided by Smart Numbers. Including resales, Fayette had 2,631 home sales last year, down a fraction from 2,681 in 2002, the data show.

While home sales were relatively flat elsewhere in Fayette, Tyrone boasted 137 new home sales in 2003, according to Smart Numbers.

That's nearly double the predictions of real estate agents who sell in the area, said Ken Parker, an agent who writes a column in an Internet newsletter that focuses on Fayette and Coweta real estate.

Tyrone's boom is not always by choice, Parker said.

"For many buyers, their choice is Peachtree City, but they're not finding the selection of new or newer homes," said Parker, who moved from Peachtree City to Tyrone two years ago. "What they have to spend $350,000 for in Peachtree City, they're able to get for $300,000 in Tyrone. Peachtree City is essentially at build-out."

Much of Tyrone's new growth centers around a new Publix shopping center on Ga. 74. Southampton is right behind the strip mall -- the only one of its kind in the city limits -- and more neighborhoods are sprouting up nearby.

Jennifer Flanigan co-owns the Velvet Tassel, a gift shop in the Publix shopping center, and lives in Southampton, where homes start in the upper $200,000s.

"It's such a good area, close to the highway but not as congested as Peachtree City," Flanigan said.

Her partner, Noreen Perret, was attracted to the shopping center "because you get so much more for your money here," she said. "In Peachtree City, retail space is $40 a square foot. But here, it's $18."

Less than a mile up the road, homes in the River Oaks neighborhood are pre-selling in the $600,000s and up.

"People really like this area because of its location," said neighborhood sales manager Elizabeth Parker. "Tyrone is so close to everything -- the airport, I-85 -- and people like that."