Knoxville housing market Archives - Page 11 of 12

Knoxville Home Sales – Winter Housing Market Update

February 25, 2015 By Troy Stavros

You may have read some national headlines lately regarding the housing market, but how have Knoxville home sales fared? The National Association of REALTORS® recently released their Existing Home Sales report and like most typical news sources, many headlines are blowing January’s decline in home sales out of proportion to grab attention, without really looking at the numbers. Headlines such as, “Existing home sales collapse in January despite low mortgage rates”.

Anyone in real estate can share with you the common knowledge that there is a slowdown in the winter months. Many markets share this seasonality and January is where it often hits. This can be seen by the graph below. But what the news media doesn’t share is that nationally, existing home sales increased by 200,000. Knoxville home sales, in January of 2015 saw a 10.1% increase over January of 2014 and Farragut home sales saw a 33.3% increase! Over the last year, Knoxville also saw the median sales price increase by 11.62%, Farragut saw a 3.32% increase. A big reason Knoxville home sales are down in January of this year, is that the inventory of homes for sale in Knoxville and Farragut have decreased, Knoxville by 8.7% from January of last year and Farragut down 12.5%. On a month to month basis, inventory in Knoxville has decreased by 7% from December of 2014 with Farragut down 6%. You might be asking yourself, where has the inventory gone? Much of it is now under contract, as the number of homes “pending sale” increased from December of 2014 to January of 2015 by 25% in Knoxville and 27% in Farragut! This screams that buyers are in the market and that equals demand.

So demand is there, as witnessed by the graphic below showing that buyer demand is actually 3x greater than last year.

The chief economist of the National Association of REALTORS®, Lawrence Yun, mentioned what he feels is the real cause of the January slowdown: “Realtors® are reporting that low rates are attracting potential buyers, but the lack of new and affordable listings is leading some to delay decisions.”

The buyer demand is there, buyers are out looking, but they are having trouble finding their dream home amongst the low inventory.

What does this mean for you?

If your plan was to wait until Spring to sell your home in Knoxville or Farragut, that plan may not help you get the most money for your home with the fastest sale. The information above points to right now being the optimum time to go to market. If you have any questions about selling or you would like to sit down and discuss your plans, contact me, Troy Stavros with Gables & Gates, REALTORS® to schedule a time that works best for you. Interested in finding out how much you could sell your Knoxville or Farragut house for? CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT.

Knoxville Real Estate Market Update Through August

September 1, 2014 By Troy Stavros

The Knoxville real estate market is continuing along on a steady pace, while other parts of the country continue to slow.

August data shows that the average sales price of homes in Knoxville increased 3.49% from one year ago to $189,916, with a year to date improvement of 4.53%. What does this mean? Home prices are still trending in a positive direction.

Average days on the market of Knoxville homes for sale saw a small improvement over last month as it dropped to 99 days from 102.

Inventory levels are down in all price points under $300,000 compared to this time last year, with total inventory of active listings down 6.8% overall. Homes under $120,000 have seen the biggest drop in inventory.

The price point showing the largest improvement by far, are homes above $400,000 and especially above $500,000. Homes over $500,000 have seen a 32.1% increase in sales over this time last year (homes between $400,000-$499,999 saw a 9.7% increase).

Year to date existing home sales are nearly the same as last year (down only 10 homes), but August sales are down 7.7% from 2013 most likely due to constrained inventory.

Have more questions about the Knoxville real estate market or buying or selling a home in Knoxville? Don’t hesitate to contact me, Troy Stavros with Gables & Gates, REALTORS, today!

Knoxville Real Estate Market Update Through June

July 21, 2014 By Troy Stavros

It’s always good to see how the Knoxville real estate market is trending when you are thinking about selling or buying a home in Knoxville. Let’s take a look at the interesting trends I’ve found in the Knoxville real estate market, by studying the home sale data through the month of June.

Compared to the month of June of last year, the luxury price point over $500,000 has seen a 72.2% increase in sales. Year to date the same price point has seen a 37.9% increase in homes sold.
Homes price between $400,000-$499,999 saw a 35.1% increase since the same month last year and a 18.1% year to date increase in homes sold.
Coinciding with the sold numbers, homes pending sale are also trending in the luxury sector with a 48.5% increase from June of last year and 50.3% increase year to date for homes over $500,000. Homes pending a sale in the $400,000-$499,999 range have seen a 26.5% increase from last June and 36.4% year to date increase.
Trends are showing us that stricter lending standards are limiting the sales in the price points under $100,000, with multiple pricing categories under $100K being down quite a bit both year over year and year to date.
Total inventory is down 12% compared to last June and is also down 5.6% year to date with the thinnest inventory being $140,000 and below.
Typically one of the best selling price points, $250,000-$299,999 is showing sluggish sales most likely from a lack of inventory. Home sales in this price point are down 2.9% from June last year and 7.9% year to date, with inventory being down 9.5% from last year and 4.8% year to date.
The reduced inventory levels are putting the law of supply and demand in effect as witnessed by a 13.99% year over year increase in the average sales price and a 5.24% increase in the average sales price year to date. Another factor showing demand is the amount of time it is taking for homes to sell. Average days on the market has decreased 32.87% year over year and 28.57% year to date. Average days on the market in June across all pricing categories was 96 days and the average for 2014 is 105 days.

What does this information mean for you, as someone possibly looking to sell your home in Knoxville or buy a home in Knoxville? As a seller, low inventory levels mean that this is a great time to put your home on the market, as there is less competition. Also the law of supply and demand tells us that less inventory is pushing prices higher. As a buyer, buying a home in a low inventory home market means, you need to be less aggressive with your offers as there is increased competition in the marketplace. Making low offers or hesitating too long in deciding to make an offer will most likely cause you to lose out on desirable homes, as they will be snapped up by competing buyers.

Thinking about selling and wondering how much your Knoxville home might be worth? CLICK HERE for an instant estimate.

For more information or to discuss your personal goals in selling or buying a home in Knoxville, contact me, Troy Stavros with Gables & Gates, REALTORS today.

Why Are There Not Enough Homes For Sale In Knoxville?

May 14, 2014 By Troy Stavros

Ask most Knoxville real estate agents and they will tell you that there is a shortage of good homes for sale in Knoxville. There are plenty of buyers in the market right now, and many are having trouble finding a home that suits them. In fact, the supply of homes in Knoxville has DECREASED by 15.6% from one year ago and is DOWN 8.1% year to date. Why is that?

The “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers Report” released by the National Association of REALTORS shows that the median tenure, or the amount of time a person lives in their home before buying another, has increased from 6 years to 9 years within the last 4 years.

Here are the 5 reasons I believe we are seeing a shortage of homes for sale in Knoxville:

There are still some sellers who are underwater in their mortgages. Also in the “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers Report”, seller’s were asked if they wanted to sell earlier but waited because their home was worth less than their mortgage. 13% of recent sellers who went on to purchase another home reported being in this situation. That is 13% who sold and bought again, so that doesn’t take into account the sellers still waiting.
Sellers whose property values decreased are waiting to build up their equity. Similar to reason #1, these sellers saw the value of their home decrease during the downturn in the market. Typically, most seller’s will use the equity in the home they are selling to provide the down payment money on the home they are buying. With many lenders looking for 20% down payment, these sellers are waiting for their equity to build back up so they can have enough money for a down payment on a new home.
As home prices dropped a few years ago and interest rates hit record lows, housing affordability hit record levels as well. This allowed those buying at this time, to buy more home for the money than was possible in the past. Because of this, first time home buyers and other buyers who might normally be trading up to a larger or more upgraded home aren’t doing so. They purchased it the first go around, most likely with a great interest rate that is keeping their payment low, and therefore are choosing to stay in their homes longer. The same holds true for sellers who refinanced their homes at historically low interest rates. Those low, locked in rates, make buying a new home at a higher interest rate that much harder of a decision.
The inventory of new construction homes as well as distressed properties are both very low in Knoxville. These are two categories that historically supplement existing housing inventory. While low amounts of distressed property is not a bad thing, until new home construction is ramped up, we may continue to see low inventory numbers in general. Lack of new construction is pushing buyers into purchasing existing homes, which puts further downward pressure on inventory and upward pressure on existing home prices.
Those of us who have lived in Knoxville for at least 4 years know that 2011 brought a severe hail storm through the area that did some major damage to homes. Areas like Farragut and many other communities throughout Knoxville were hammered by the storm. As a result, most homeowners not only got new roofs paid for by their insurance, but new windows, siding, decks, patios, doors, and more. Many owners were able to do major updates on their homes with little, to no money out of pocket. New decks and patios turned into new outdoor entertaining spaces. New windows and doors turned into lower utility costs. New siding turned a tired looking house into something fresh. I believe this is another major reason for our inventory shortage. Many homeowners pushed “refresh” on their existing homes in 2011-2012, and had that not happened, they would probably be a large pool of sellers looking to upgrade and putting their homes on the market.

Whether you are a seller looking to take advantage of low competition or a buyer looking for guidance in winning against the competition, contact me, Troy Stavros with Gables & Gates, REALTORS to discuss your goals and formulate a game plan.

Knoxville Real Estate vs. National Real Estate in Q1

May 13, 2014 By Troy Stavros

Buyers and sellers of Knoxville real estate need to be very careful what they believe when listening to the media about the housing market. Sure you can believe most of the numbers you hear, but you can’t necessarily translate what those numbers say to your local market. REAL ESTATE IS LOCAL. Here are some good examples which show how our local Knoxville real estate market is bucking the trends of the national housing market.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal titled, “Why the Nation’s Hot Housing Market Is Cooling, Slightly” made the following statements:

“The housing market showed signs of cooling in the first quarter as the supply of homes for sale expanded and lofty prices put a damper on demand in recent months. A key driver of the price slowdown was an increase in the supply of existing homes listed for sale in the first quarter, which expanded by 3.1% from a year earlier..”

When we compare this statement against our local Knoxville real estate numbers we differ quite a bit. Where the national market “showed signs of cooling” in the first quarter of the year, the Knoxville market’s PENDING home sales are up 14.3% from one year ago and up 15.5% year to date (refer to chart at bottom of the page). April numbers show the trend continuing as PENDING home sales were up 21.8% from last year and 17.7% YTD.
If a “key driver to the nation’s price slowdown was an increase in the supply of existing homes in the first quarter”… what happened in Knoxville? The supply of homes has DECREASED by 15.6% from one year ago and is DOWN 8.1% year to date (refer to chart at bottom of page). Logic would tell us that if the increased inventory is making the nation’s price growth slow, then Knoxville’s decreased inventory would do the opposite. This seems to be proving accurate as noted in my recent article, “List Prices Are Rising Fast On Knoxville Real Estate” that showed list prices rising by 2.1% in a one month period between March and April.

I just hope this example will make you think twice when you hear news about the housing market on the national media. Your best source of learning the status of your local Knoxville real estate market is a local, Knoxville real estate agent. To discuss the market or your goals with buying your selling a home in Knoxville, contact me, Troy Stavros with Gables & Gates, REALTORS today!

Knoxville Real Estate Market Update for April 2014

April 22, 2014 By Troy Stavros

A recent report by the National Association of REALTORS showed that the current national housing market is underperforming by historical standards, but where does Knoxville real estate stand?

My research shows that in the four main categories (Sold Listings, Pending Listings, Active Listings, and New Listings), only one is showing positive signs here in the Knoxville real estate market. Evidenced by the graphs below, only “Pending Listings”, or homes currently under contract, is showing a gain over last year (up 15.5%). “Sold Listings” are down 8.6% from the same time last year, and the categories showing current Knoxville real estate inventory are down as well, with “Active Listings” down 8.1% and “New Listings” down 5.4%.

To get a better feel for how your individual price point is faring in Knoxville, dig a little deeper into the numbers below and you will see that there is a pretty wide variation between performance in differing price points. To get an idea of where your current home may fall CLICK HERE for an INSTANT, no hassle price evaluation.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist said, “There really should be stronger levels of home sales given our population growth. In contrast, price growth is rising faster than historical norms because of inventory shortages.” Yun does expect improvement, however. “With ongoing job creation and some weather delayed shopping activity, home sales should pick up, especially if inventory continues to improve and mortgage interest rates rise only modestly.”

The national median existing-home price for all housing types in March was $198,500, up 7.9% from March 2013. Knoxville’s median existing home price was $140,000, up 4.19% from last year.

Because of the laws of supply and demand, lower year over year inventory levels will only lead to higher prices, so my advice to Knoxville home buyers would be to find a home that suits your needs and jump on it quickly before prices rise even higher. My advice to sellers would be to get your home on the market where it could possibly bring a premium in a low inventory environment.

To discuss your Knoxville real estate goals, whether it be buying or selling, contact me, Troy Stavros with Gables & Gates, REALTORS to schedule a time to sit down and formulate an action plan.