Knoxville Tennessee Real Estate Blog

Here’s the latest report from the Knox County, Tennessee Register of Deeds real estate transactions.

closed real estate transactions for the week of November 29th

There were 157 transactions during the past week; that’s about on par for the 150 average we’ve had for 2009.

And as usual the $100,000 to $150,000 price points dominate the number with almost twice as many as any other category.

Even though we have not seen the normal seasonal slowdown yet, I think it may be beginning in December.

Real estate in Knox County and most everywhere else in the United States is in a very highly volatile state right now because of the economy, unemployment, and a lack of consumer confidence. I believe that will be exacerbated this month by the Christmas season. People with holiday parties and shopping foremost in their minds are typically not in the house buying mode at the same time.

According to the Knoxville Realtors Multiple Listing Service there are 3,727 active residential listings and 976 condos in all price points. Here’s a graph showing the current, active listings broken down by price points.

Current Knox County active listings by price points

By comparing the two graphs you can easily see there’s a huge disparity between the number of current, active listings and those that actually sell.

This also demonstrates that now is an excellent time to buy a house or condo. Excellent fiancing is still available and there is a huge selection of homes for sale. Visit www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com to see all the current active listings listed above plus all the other counties served by the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors

World class screened porch on this 4 bedroom Gulf Park beauty, move in condition.

Another week has passed in Knoxville, Tennessee and here’s the passed week’s real estate transfer report form the Knox County Register of Deeds for Knoxville area and Farragut real estate sales.

It appears from the statistics below there were 160 Knoxville area real estate transfers recorded, the breakdown remains typical of the year, we’ve averaging around 150 transfers per week to date in 2009.

The vast majority of sales are lower end properties with the higher end very slow to move. The 2 sales over 1 million dollars were the Lanesborough and Derby Run apartment complexes in the town of Farragut so no single family residential sales over a million bucks this week.

Some good news for the Knoxville market for a change, Congress passed an extension of the $8,000 tax credit for qualifying buyers.

The credit was scheduled to expire at the end of November but it is now officially extended until April 30th of 2010 and buyers still have an additional 60 days past that date to get their home purchase closed. With financing and appraisals taking much longer than normal in today’s Knoxville area real estate market you sometimes need every one of those 60 days to get your transaction to the settlement table.

Some additional changes to the tax credit were that it has now been expanded to include current homeowners who sell their existing home and then buy again. They are now eligible for a $6,500 tax credit when buying if they have lived in the home they sell for at least 5 of the past 8 years.

Knoxville Homes For Sale

Knoxville Recently Sold Homes

Some new limits on income (higher) and requirements when filing for the credit, I wrote a recent post about that here.

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Sellers will consider lease purchase for this extensively redone home, 5 minutes to downtown Knoxville.

Below is a chart prepared by the National Association of REALTORS ® comparing the new changes to the Homebuyer Tax Credit.

The biggest change is that current Homeowners are now eligible if they sell their current homes and then buy AFTER the date of enactment of this extension which is November 6th, 2009.

Comparison of existing tax credit to extended and expanded version

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com has all of the Knoxville TN area listings to view. Updated daily and NO REGISTRATION required to view home.

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This delightful home above has been reduced to $184,900 and will qualify for the $8,000 federal tax credit if you have not owned a home in the past three years. Click the Visual Tour above to see a virtual tour and then call me to schedule a private showing.

** UPDATE** The extension passed the Senate vote today and President Obama said he would sign it on Friday!

It looks like the extension of the $8,000 federal tax credit for Knoxville & Farragut TN area homebuyers is almost done.

RISmedia is reporting today (November 5th) that the Senate voted to cut off debate and bring the measure to the floor for a vote and then pass it on to President Obama for signature by the end of this week.

President Obama has already said he intends to sign the legislation.

The homebuyer tax credit, due to expire at the end of November would be extended through April 30 of next year. First-time buyers who are in the process of making a purchase would not need to worry about qualifying for the $8,000 credit if they close after the November 30 deadline.

For the first time, the legislation that was recently cleared makes move-up buyers as well as first-time buyers eligible for a credit. The $8,000 maximum first-timer credit will continue and will now be available to couples with income up to $225,000, a nearly $55,000 increase above the level in existing law. A new $6,500 maximum credit would also be available to move-up homeowners who have lived in their current residence for five of the prior eight years.

I’ll keep you updated as this bill moves quickly toward becoming law.

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7412 Harvest Creek Lane, Powell, TN 37849

It appears the malaise in the Knoxville area real estate market continues this week as it has for the past weeks in 2009.

The Knox County Register of Deeds office reports 170 real estate transfers for the past week, a touch above the average 150 per week we’ve had all year but well below the 200 mark only reached three times in 2009.

Knoxville area real estate transfers for the past week.

John Walsh, the President of Data Quick had this to say about the ‘national’ real estate market: “This market may be closer to normal than it was a a half year ago, but it’s still out of kilter, fueled in large part by incentives and the processing of distressed properties. The sales mix is still lopsided, tilting toward the low end, and lending institutions are only making really safe mortgage loans. For those who can buy, there are some very attractive opportunities. But it still looks like a lot of normal supply-and-demand activity has been put on hold until the economy comes back.”

And Mr. Walsh’s conclusions support what the Knoxville area area has been doing all this year. The majority of sales have been in the $100,000 to $150,000 week in and week out while the higher end ($500,000 and up) has been largely stagnant. Knoxville’s current median price for a 3 bedroom home is $139,900 which is down from $159,900 a couple of years ago.

Based on the most current sales data available from the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors here’s a recap of the local market for the past 5 years.

Year to date Knoxville TN area sales compared to past years

I’m going to be very interested to see if that 60 home ’spike’ this past September continues on into October when those figures come out. Historically the Knoxville real estate market has been in a seasonal decline by now but as the chart shows, 2009 is holding up past the downturn points. I believe most, if not all of this modest strength is due to the $8,000 tax credit buyers that have not owned a home in the past 3 years can qualify for if they buy a new or resale home.

It’s almost a sure thing now that Congress is not only going to extend the $8,000 tax credit for new home buyers who meet the income restrictions but also make it applicable to existing home buyers in some fashion.

The most likely bill to pass calls for the inclusion of a $6,500 credit for current homeowners who sell their existing home they have occupied for at least the past 5 years and then buy a new one. This pending bill is set to expire next April and sales contracts signed by that date would then have an additional 60 days to close. Final action should happen sometime this month. I’ll be following these bills closely as they make their way through Congress and keep you posted.

Buyers should visit www.KnoxvilleHomecenter.com to see all of the Knoxville and Farragut Tennessee area Realtor listings and contact me to see your favorites.

knoxville tn real estate listings

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I was interviewed by WATE recently about the present and future state of the Knoxville area housing market.

Here’s a link to that interview and video below.

So far this year Knoxville area sales are oddly resisting their typical seasonal downturn as we approach the colder months and the holiday season.

Usually we see a downturn in sales around July-August when school starts but so far this year that is not happening. I believe a significant portion of those sales are being driven by buyers trying to beat the deadline for the $8,000 tax credit for homebuyers which is set to expire at the end of November this year.

There are several bills in Congress to extend it but whether they will pass or not is is anybody’s guess. Here’s what past years sales have historically looked like compared to this year so far.

Knoxville, TN year to date home sales

As the red line which represents 2009 sales shows, sales are holding up at least 1 month past the points in the past where they have traditionally started dipping down.

The graph below shows the median price for a typical 3 bedroom home in the greater Knoxville area. The median price means “middle” and 50% of sales were above this price and 50% were below.

Knoxville area 3rd quarter median price comparisons

As the chart above shows, we’re selling more lower priced homes this year compared to years past. Hopefully Congress will see the wisdom of continuing the homebuyers tax credit and we can continue to see increases in the numbers of home sales in the Knoxville area.

Now is a great time to buy a house if you’ve been thinking of becoming a homeowner. You may not have enough time to qualify for the tax credit but there is a huge selection of homes for sale in the Knoxville area in all price ranges, interest rates are at historic lows which translates to payments maybe less than you’re paying right now in rent, and motivated sellers are willing to deal to entice you to buy their house over another.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is a great place to start your search.

For Knoxville home sellers that need to sell; don’t dispair or give up. Knoxville area homes are still selling but you need to keep these three critical things in mind to make your home sell.

1. Aggressive pricing. Realize you’re probably not going to net as much for your house now and you could have a year or so ago. Be prepared and willing to offer potential buyers a price concession and/or help with their closing costs. Most lenders will let a seller ‘contribute’ as much a 3% of the purchase price to help your buyer.
2. Showroom condition. Start from the front door and pretend you’re the homebuyer for your house. Would you pay top dollar for it in the present condition? If the answer is no you need to make some changes. Start with a thorough cleaning of things you might not clean on a weekly basis such as ceiling fan blades, ceiling corners, garage, and other areas. Paint any needed area with a neutral paint color
3. Broad based marketing. Over 80% of today’s buyers are looking on the Internet for houses these days. You have to have your house exposed to as many potential buyers as possible and once they find it you need lots of photos to encourage them to visit in person to look and buy. Your selection of an Internet savvy Realtor is more critical now than ever before (maybe a Realtor local news outlets talk to about Knoxville’s housing market)

Please feel free to comment or ask any housing or mortgage questions you may have.

Knoxville, Tennessee real estate

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All of us have probably at one time or another watched one of those TV game shows that feature a “Lightning Round” of fast paced questions.

I applied that to selling your Knoxville area house with a 90 second “Lightning Round” of how to get ready to sell so it will sell more quickly and likely bring you more money.

Here’s the first one:

The Louisville, Kentucky Association of Realtors has a great video with some more selling tips.

And WKMB in Kansas City has 9 great tips to make your home sell.

It’s a tough real estate market out there today folks; LOTS of homes for sale, financing is tougher to get, and buyers are fewer so any things you can do to make your home more appealing and stand above the crowd will get you that much closer to a sale and the closing table.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com also has great selling tips including a list of 40 free or inexpensive things you can do to make your Knoxville area home show better, sell faster, and net you more money.

Send me a blank email to [email protected] and get a free copy of “450 Ways To Help Your Home Sell Faster” , a 52 page eBook full of great tips and suggestions as well as some real life scenarios from selling homes.