No, you're not dreaming, palatial mansions are springing up all over metro Atlanta. From Forsyth County on the Northside to Fayette and Henry counties in the south, the number of luxury homes on the market is increasing, according to The AJC 2004 Home Sales Report.

Jenny Pruitt Harry Waddington's house on West Wesley Road in Atlanta is listed for $1.9 million. More homes   RELATED: • See some of the area's most expensive homes • 2004 home report: Check sales in your area • Previous Private Quarters • Home & Garden • ajchomefinder.com

The majority of the upscale homes are located in Fulton County, but Northside counties such as Gwinnett, Cherokee, Cobb and Forsyth have seen an increase in the numbers of houses priced over $1 million as well.

Cobb County went from four homes in 1998 to 27 in 2003. DeKalb increased its inventory from four to 20 in the same period. Forsyth County, which is experiencing a boom in residential development, had just one million-dollar home in 1998 and 15 in 2003.

In Buckhead's regal, leaf-shaded neighborhoods, where a majority of the homes surpass the million-dollar mark, real estate agents say reasonably priced luxury homes in the best neighborhoods are selling in spite of a sluggish market. But the large number of houses for sale complicates the process, said Jenny Pruitt agent Wes Vawter.

"There's a lot on the market right now and a lot of competition for the [luxury] buyer," Vawter said. "We're getting a lot of low offers because people think it's a buyers market and they expect $300,000 haggle room."

One seller said the trick is to get as many agents to see your house as possible. Harry Waddington, retired manager of the Piedmont Driving Club, has had his three-story house on West Wesley Road on the market for about a year as he prepares to move to Beaufort, S.C. The five-bedroom, five-bath house on a heavily wooded lot is listed for $1.9 million.

"We've had a lot of tire-kickers and open houses, but the real action comes from having caravans and getting agents in to see your house," Waddington said. "The more agents that know your house is out there, the more buyers they'll bring in, so we're concentrating on caravans."

Buyers include families moving up to a bigger home or relocating from the suburbs to be nearer private schools, and transferred executives.

Glennis Beacham, who sells homes for Harry Norman, said corporations are beginning to transfer executives to Atlanta again, revitalizing the relocation market after several years of drought. The hot properties are located inside I-285, Beacham said, but agents based outside the Perimeter say resort communities such as Sugarloaf Country Club in Gwinnett and St. Marlo in Forsyth also attract a lot of wealthy executives.

"They like the idea of being out of the city and close to the lake," said Prudential agent Dawson Ganong. Residents of the outlying suburbs no longer have to give up fine dining or upscale shopping. Good restaurants, the Mall of Georgia and the Gwinnett Center have made city-style amenities convenient, he said.

Property taxes are lower in Forsyth, Gwinnett and Cherokee counties than in Fulton and DeKalb, Ganong said.

"If a buyer is looking for homes and can choose between north Fulton and Forsyth, he'll pick Forsyth for that reason."

Other buyers have discovered that houses in the southwest corner of Cherokee County carry the cachet of an Alpharetta address but are assessed at the lower Cherokee tax rate. Houses on the market in Cherokee come with several acres of land and all the bells and whistles of the current crop of suburban, two-story traditional homes to be found across metro Atlanta.

"There are so many farms where the owners have decided to sell out and move to Florida," said Keller Williams agent Mary Lou Lanaux, "and people have taken advantage of that to have acreage."

Cherokee had six homes in the million-dollar range for sale last year. Property values are rising as buyers fleeing city taxes discover the area. Lanaux said one of her listings in Cherokee is a Country French brick house with five bedrooms and 5 1/2 baths on a private lake on nearly 4 acres. It's priced at $1.28 million.

In Gwinnett, the number of million-dollar homes for sale increased from one in 1998 to 15 in 2003.

Much of the increase can be attributed to upscale developments such as the River Club and Sugarloaf Country Club golf/resort communities developed by Crescent Resources. Since its opening in early 2003, more than 50 houses have been sold at the River Club. Prices begin at $900,000, and large, wooded lots on one of the community's several lakes sell for as much as $2 million.

On the Southside, Fayette and Henry counties have seen an increase in upscale housing as professionals escape the traffic and bustle of Atlanta. The number of million-dollar houses for sale in Fayette has increased from none in 1998 to four in 2003 and from none to two in Henry. Many houses are sited on acreage and were custom-built rather than built to sell in residential developments. Some, like the $1.3 million estate that Helen Davis has listed in Tyrone, are spectacular.

Completed in 1989, the six-bedroom, five-bath house sits on 9 acres and is surrounded by horse farms, yet is just 1.5 miles from I-85. The 10,000-square-foot house has an indoor swimming pool with humidity control, a floating staircase, an elevator and a $25,000 sound system that was installed last year. Owned by a retired doctor, the house would be priced much higher if located on the Northside.

"We have good restaurants in Peachtree City, and the airport is less than 30 minutes away," said Davis, an agent with Coldwell Banker Bullard in Newnan. "But you still have to go to Buckhead to shop."