Don Fenley is semiretired from a 45-year career as a journalist. His news blog — Core Data — focuses on local housing data and localized reports about the core elements of the Northeast Tennessee economy.
Don Fenley is semiretired from a 45-year career as a journalist. His news blog — Core Data — focuses on local housing data and localized reports about the core elements of the Northeast Tennessee economy.
Don Fenley is semiretired from a 45-year career as a journalist. His news blog — Core Data — focuses on local housing data and localized reports about the core elements of the Northeast Tennessee economy.
Kingsport continued to lead the region in total home sales last month but experienced a sharp decline in both sales and the median price that suggests a potential softening of demand.
The ºÚÁÏÊÓƵ and Jonesborough markets posted healthy gains, while Greeneville and Elizabethton had mixed trends with flat or falling prices and sales that were either flat or declining.
April’s hot spots — based on their year-over-year sales growth rates — were Blountville, Erwin, Gray and Bluff City
April home sales
The Tri-Cities housing market exhibited continued modest strength in April, characterized by rising prices and an increase in consumer demand. The demand increase is not reflecting in the sales comparison to April last year. They were down 5% and prices were up 5%.
The four-month market trend is similar to April year-over-year performance. Sales are down 5.2% while prices are up 7.5%.
The trends performance divergence reflects a patchy recovery that’s a continuance of a growth surge in the urban hubs’ neighbors. Sales gains in secondary markets like Bluff City, Blountville and Erwin suggest buyers are expanding their search radius. All but three of the regions’ submarkets have positive price growth trends.
The year-to-date sales hot spots are Bluff City, Blountville, Telford, Piney Flats and Roan Mountain. All five have double-digit growth. Only 10 of the region’s 21 markets monitored by the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors (NETAR) have a four-month positive sales growth rate.
While Kingsport, ºÚÁÏÊÓƵ, Jonesborough, Greeneville and Elizabethton have accounted for most sales so far this year, their year-to-date growth rates are another matter. All are in negative territory when compared to the same period last year.
Kingsport, which has led market sales growth since last year, had the biggest deficit. It was down 21.6%
While the overall market trend is upward, the divergence in local market performance reflects a patchy recovery that’s influenced by inventory levels, pricing and localized demand dynamics. For example, much of the Twin City's price ranges were at balanced conditions in mid-May. That inventory balance was for all the price ranges from $300K to $799,999K.
Don Fenley is semiretired from a 45-year career as a journalist. His news blog — Core Data — focuses on local housing data and localized reports about the core elements of the Northeast Tennessee economy.
