home sales Archives - Page 3 of 4

March Knoxville Area Housing Market Snapshot

April 9, 2019 By Troy Stavros

Here’s how the current real estate market is doing through the end of March, all around Knoxville, compared to last year. Remember, real estate is hyper local, meaning your county may show one thing but your specific subdivision or home may be doing something completely different. Contact me for a personal analysis!

Here is what is happening in the West Knoxville/Farragut real estate market compared to last year. Home sales are down fairly considerably in Farragut, compared to the same time last year. Median sales price is also down, and we’ve seen a small uptick in the amount of available inventory. This is good if you are looking to buy in Farragut!

The 37922 zip code in West Knoxville saw a nice jump in price, but home sales are down, most likely because of the decline in available inventory.

Not seeing your particular zip code referenced above? View the stats for your specific zip code by clicking HERE.

Interested in what your personal home analysis would look like? Call or text me at 865-999-0925!

Data Confirms That Now Is a Great Time to Sell Your Home in Knoxville

March 6, 2019 By Troy Stavros

Heading into the spring buying market, there are strong trends starting to emerge.

The inventory of homes for sale has increased on a year-over-year basis for eight months in a row. Home price appreciation has continued to grow, although at a slower rate. The homeownership rate has reached heights last seen in 2014, with millennials and Generation X leading the way!

Let’s dive a little deeper into some of the recent reports that have been released and what they mean for the spring buying season!

1. National Association of Realtor’s Existing Home Sales Report

Sales of existing homes were down for the third consecutive month in January. Some of this can be explained by the natural seasonality that the real estate market experiences every year, and some can be explained even further by a lack of homes available for sale on the market.

Inventory

For the last eight months, nationally, the inventory of homes for sale has been higher when compared to the same month the year before, but what I always try to remind you is that real estate is local. In Knox County the opposite holds true, as inventory is down 10.5% compared to January of last year (we are using January’s numbers to compare directly with the time frame in the stated national report). The challenge in the market is also the mismatch of the type of home that is available for sale. First-time homebuyers looking for a starter home, are often competing with other buyers to stand out, often outbidding each other.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist, agrees that the market is still experiencing an inventory shortage.

“In particular, the lower end of the market is experiencing a greater shortage, and more home construction is needed.”

Home Prices

Nationally, the median home price for homes sold in January was $247,500 ($207,450 in Knox County). This is up 2.8% from January 2018 (up 12.44% in Knox County!) and marks the 83^rd consecutive month of year-over-year gains. The 2.8% growth in home prices represents the smallest year-over-year change since February 2012 but is a welcome change for buyers who had feared being priced out of the market (unfortunately for buyers in Knoxville, but not for sellers, the price appreciation in Knoxville is well outpacing what is happening nationally).

Days on the Market

Properties that sold in January were on the market for an average of 49 days (54 days in Knox County) with 38% of homes on the market for less than a month.

Yun is positive about how today’s market conditions will help buyers this spring,

“Existing home sales in January were weak compared to historical norms; however, they are likely to have reached a cyclical low. Moderating home prices combined with gains in household income will boost housing affordability, bringing more buyers to the market in the coming months.”

2. NAR’s Pending Home Sales Report

The national Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) rose 4.6% to 103.2 in January from 98.7 in December. An index score of 100 is considered normal. All four major regions of the country experienced gains in January, with the largest increase coming in the South.

“The PHSI is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.”

Increases in the PHSI often predict increases in the level of home sales in the coming months, which is great news for the housing market leading in to spring! Yun had this to say,

“Homebuyers are now returning and taking advantage of lower interest rates, while a boost in inventory is also providing more choices for consumers.”

Bottom Line

The Knoxville housing market in 2019 will, as always, require homeowners to list their house at the right price, but depending on the price point, there could be lots of buyers interested in the same property which could lead to multiple offers. If interest rates continue to stay low while wages increase, and more inventory comes to market, 2019 could be one of the best years for home sales in recent history.

Year End Housing Snapshot: Sales Declining Nationally, Knoxville Still Strong

February 1, 2019 By Troy Stavros

Nationally, at the end of 2018, pending home sales fell, possibly due to concerns about the economy and rising home prices, according to a recently released housing index from the National Association of REALTORS®.

Chief economist for NAR, Lawrence Yun said, “The stock market correction hurt consumer confidence, record high home prices cut into affordability, and mortgage rates were higher in October and November for consumers signing contracts in December.”

Compared to a year ago, all four major regions of the U.S. posted declines, with the South posting the largest decrease (the South also had the highest level of sales going in.)

Yun also said, ““The longer-term growth potential is high. The Federal Reserve announced a change in its stance on monetary policy. Rather than four rate hikes, there will likely be only one increase or even no increase at all. This has already spurred a noticeable fall in the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages. As a result, the forecast for home transactions has greatly improved.”

That being said, one thing we know for certain is that while it’s good to look at what is happening nationally, real estate is local. Knoxville has fared better than what the information above would have you think. While the South showed the biggest decrease, that isn’t true everywhere as witnessed in the images below.

This first image relates to the national numbers:

This next image looks at the same timeline of December, comparing LOCAL Pending Sales and Median Sales Price by County (December 2018 vs. December 2017):

This last image looks at the year to date numbers comparing single family home sales and median sales price, locally by county 2018 vs 2017:

Wondering how your specific subdivision, neighborhood, or your personal home has fared? Just contact me, Troy Stavros with CornerStone Realty Associates and I’d be happy to go over those with you!

Home Sales Are Up In All Price Ranges Above $100,000!

August 9, 2016 By Troy Stavros

The National Association of Realtors’ most recent Existing Home Sales Report revealed that home sales were up rather dramatically over last year in five of the six price ranges they measure.

Homes priced between $100-250K showed a modest increase at 3.4%. This not only points to the lower inventory of homes available for sale in this price range but also speaks to the overall strength of the housing market.

Sales of homes over $250,000 increased by double digit percentages with sales in the $750,000- $1 million range showing the largest increase, up 16.7%!

As prices in many markets continue to accelerate, it is no surprise to see the percentage of homes in the higher price ranges increasing.

Here is the breakdown:

What does that mean to you if you are selling?

Houses are definitely selling. If your house has been on the market for any length of time and has not yet sold, perhaps it is time to sit with your agent and see if it is priced appropriately to compete in today’s market. Have questions? Want to get your home on the market? Contact me, Troy Stavros with Gables & Gates, REALTORS at 865-777-9191 to setup a time to talk!

Home Sales Up Year Over Year (INFOGRAPHIC)

March 25, 2016 By Troy Stavros

Some Highlights

This is the 48th consecutive month with year-over-year price gains.
Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist says that, “The main issue continues to be a supply & affordability problem. Finding the right property at an affordable price is burdening many potential buyers.”
Inventory is still below historic norms at a 4.4 month supply.

Home Sales Reportedly Dropped Last Month. Is That Accurate?

December 28, 2015 By Troy Stavros

Last week, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their latest Existing Home Sales Report which covered sales in November. The report revealed that sales:

“…fell 10.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.76 million in November (lowest since April 2014 at 4.75 million)…”

That report gave birth to a series of industry articles, some questioning whether the housing market was slowing. The truth is, there is one rather simple explanation to much of the falloff in sales last month. It is likely the implementation of the “Know Before You Owe” mortgage rule, commonly known as the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, which went into effect on October 3. These regulations caused house closings to be delayed by an extra three days in November as shown in the graph below.

Three days might not sound like a big deal. However, since there are only aabout 20 days in a month that a closing would normally take place (Mondays through Fridays), losing three days constitutes well over 10% of all closings. These sales aren’t lost, they’ve just moved into the next month’s numbers. In a DS News article on the subject yesterday, Auction.com EVP Rick Sharga explained:

“The most likely cause for the weak sales numbers is a delay in processing loans due to the new TRID mortgage requirements imposed by the CFPB. This is the biggest change in mortgage document processing in many years, and there have been numerous reports within the industry of problems implementing the process and the new documentation that comes with it.”

So how is the housing market actually doing?

A better way to look at how well the housing market is doing, is to look at the Foot Traffic Report from NAR, which quantifies the number of prospective buyers that are actively looking for a home at the current time:

We can see immediately that demand to buy single family homes is increasing over the last few months – not decreasing.

What does this mean for you?

No matter what last month’s sales numbers show, the housing market is still doing well as demand remains strong.