Knoxville Tennessee Real Estate Blog

See 11,509 Knoxville area homes and condos for sale right here.

February 2010 is now officially over. The total sales from the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors won’t be available until around the 15th of March so as to include late closings from February. We can however take a look at last week’s property transfers from the Knox County Register of Deeds office.

Knox County TN real estate property transfers

I count 104 for the past week which is about on par for this year’s totals. Last year we were averaging around 150 a week but I still believe this year’s numbers will increase as the spring selling market gets in full swing.

I mean who wouldn’t buy a house now if you wanted to and could qualify for a loan. There is a huge selection of homes for sale in all price ranges, motivated sellers who are willing to deal on prices and concessions to buyers, AND the lowest interest rates we’ve seen in a long, long time.

The only think holding real estate sales to their current levels is the jobs (unemployment) and the economic mess the United States (and a lot of the world) finds itself in right now.

The January unemployment figures held pretty much steady at 10% of the workforce. However, the real rate of unemployment — which includes part- time workers who want full-time jobs and people who want work but have simply stopped looking — rose to 17.3% from 17.2%.  Not good.

Only two more months left for buyers to get a home under contract now and qualify for the up to $8,000 tax credit for those that have not owned a home in the past 3 years and up to $6,500 for those that have. Call or email me for details.

Here’s what January 2010 sales looked like compared to previous Januarys. We were up 90 homes in 2010 compared to 2009 so that’s  good news.

January sales

Check out my exciting new website below to see all Knoxville area Realtor listings of houses and condos for sale. Search 1000’s of Beautiful Homes Photos, Prices, Tours, Maps & More!

See 11,509 Knoxville area homes and condos for sale right here.

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New listing in popular North Hills section of north Knoxville.

Let’s look back over the past 11 years to get some perspective about where the current greater Knoxville, Tennessee area real estate market is compared to past years.

Knoxville area sales for the past 11 years

In 2009 all the members of the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors sold 10,495 houses and condos. in 2008 it was 11,850.  That’s a 11% drop in volume 2008. It’s also a whopping 40% drop from the peak sales year of 2006.

Basically that means the greater Knoxville area is back to pre-2002 sales levels.

That’s what has happened in the past 11 years; now let’s talk about what I believe is going to happen in 2010 and beyond.

I believe interest rates will remain low for at least this year, probably in the 5-6% range because of low demand. Any retailer will tell you that you can’t raise the price of your merchandise if it’s not selling.

Lots of pundits are predicting that housing prices have stabilized. I don’t agree with them. I think foreclosures and short sales will keep downward pressure on housing prices for this year and some years beyond. How many? anyone’s guess.

Mortgage will continue to be hard to get. I’m hearing stories from fellow Realtors about lenders asking for more and more documentation and verifications on even buyers with gold plated credit histories. For instance, I have a closing set for this coming Friday on a fairly high end house, great buyer, great credit history, and substantial down payment. Lender is now (4 days before closing) asking for more documentation and a statement from inspector as to minor maintenance issues. I’ve never had anything like that before.

Still a great time to buy a house, an OK time to sell one that’s priced competitively and in great condition, and it’s now taking longer than ever before to find a buyer and get to the closing table.

Below is the weekly sales report from the Knox County Register of deeds showing all the transfers recorded in the past week. In 2009 we averaged roughly 150 sales a week. I count 98 for last week. A sign of things to come? I don’t necessarily think so. It’s still early in the year and historically near the bottom of the yearly sales cycle.

I’ll continue to monitor these reports and we’ll see if they start to rise in February and March as they have done in past years.

Knoxville, TN weekly sales report

Visit www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com to see all the Knoxville area Realtor listings for sale. Please leave your comments below and feel free to contact me directly with any questions or to schedule a showing or talk about selling your current home.

Great investment property and/or for UT students. 1 two BR up and 1 One BR down, Reduced to $79,950!

January is rapidly drawing to a close and we now have the 3rd real estate transfer report from the Knox County Register of Deeds available.

I counted 121 transfers for the past week. That’s a bit below the 150 average we had in 2009 but I’m discounting some of that because of the time of year. We’ll see if it picks up or now as we get close to spring and better weather for both sellers and buyers.

Knox County Tennessee real estate sales recorded

To start your home selling year off right here’s some home selling tips from real estate experts:

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

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

If you have a home you’re thinking of selling in 2010 please give me a call or email and ask for a free copy of my FREE ebook: “450 Ideas to help your home seller faster”. This 50+ page book is chock full of advice that will get your home sold and usually for more money than you would have gotten without doing some of the things suggested.

Visit www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com for more selling tips and to see all the greater Knoxville area listings of homes, condos, and land for sale.

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Terrific new listing in north Knoxville, reduced $25,000!

Not surprisingly it looks like the real estate transfers in Knoxville and Farragut Tennessee were down a bit this past week.

I counted 135 with the usual high numbers in the lower price ranges as it’s been all of 2009

I’m very excited for 2010 to begin (which is will in only 4 more days) and see what a new year holds for us.

On one hand interest rates remain very, very low which makes buying attractive. But on the other hand unemployment remains higher than usual in Tennessee although we’re faring better than many other areas.

I believe I’m predicting a modest improvement in the volume of sales with prices still stagnant to downward. A good time to buy if you’re thinking about that. For sellers you have to price your houses competitively and be prepared to deal if you want to sell, you’re facing a lot of competition out there.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is the “go to” place for both buyers and sellers for all of the Knoxville area Realtor listing plus some great selling tips and information including my free 52 page ebook titled: “450 Ways to Sell Your Home Faster For More Money” email 450Ways@JimLee.com for your free copy.

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This very motivated seller is willing to do a lease purchase on this beautiful country home in north Knoxville.

Here’s the latest real estate property transfers as reported by the Knox County, Tennessee Register of Deeds.

Year to date Knox County has been averaging around 150 transfers (sales) a week. The week just passed reported 135 sales which is a bit below the average. I’m putting that down to the fast approaching Christmas week and other things than home buying on people’s minds.

You’ll notice from past reports that even the hot $100,000 to $150,000 price range sank down a little this past week.

I’m starting to hear from mortgage bankers all over the country that interest rates are on the rise and we will almost certainly be looking at 6% rates sometime before mid 2010, probably in the early months.

Of course 6% is a pretty phenomenal rate, I remember back about 30 years ago when I bought my first house and got an 8% fixed rate. I thought that was the best thing possible, which of course at that time it was.

If you’re thinking if buying, NOW is a great time. The $8,000 tax credit that most buyers will qualify for expires at the end of April in 2010 and I’m betting it will not be renewed again.

Even existing home owners can now get up to $6,500 if they buy another home for their principal residence AND your existing home does not have to be sold for you to qualify.

There is still a huge selection of homes for sale and motivated (for now) sellers are willing to make deals to entice buyers to buy their house over another.

And finally interest rates are still very, very attractive.

So putting all these factors together makes this sort of a perfect storm for home buyers.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is the ‘go to’ place to see all Knoxville and Farragut Realtor listings as wells as many surrounding counties. Come on in and have a look around, you might find that “just right” home for you and your family.

Please feel free to leave your comments or email me with any questions.

Best wishes to everyone for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2010!

Down in deep West Knoxville is one of the most awesome Christmas light show you’ve likely ever seen. Shadrack’s Water Sports has transformed the large hillside behind their boat showroom into a Christmas wonderland with hundreds of thousands of brightly colored lights dynamically synchronized and dancing to Christmas tunes.

There are well lighted auto paths through this delightful light and music show plus you can pull over to the side, park awhile, and listen to the whole show. Several familiar Christmas songs and a couple of upbeat contemporary ones as well.

Load the whole family up and take them down to see this holiday treat.

To find Shadrack’s go west on Interstate 75 to the Watt Road Exit, turn right and then an immediate left, Shadrack’s is about 3 blocks out on the right. If you go after dark you want have any trouble finding it, just follow the colored glow in the sky.

Location Times:
All Locations – Daily 6pm to 10pm

RATES:
Bristol – $10 per car Sunday – Thursday
$12 per car Friday – Saturday

Knoxville/Sevierville – $10 per car Monday – Thursday
$15 per car Friday – Sunday
All locations – Activity Van – $20 / Limo – $30 / Mini-Bus $40 / Bus – $65

*ALL HOLIDAYS ARE WEEKEND RATES*
WELL worth the trip!

235 real estate transfers recorded in Knox County, Tennessee this past week. I believe that’s only the 4th time in 2009 we’ve had over 200 sales recorded in 1 week! A good sign for the local real estate market and sellers and buyers.

Here’s a graph showing the breakdown.

Lots of real estate transfers recorded in the past week

As has been true all year, the $100,000 to $150,000 price range continues to dominate the market, there were 70 recorded sales in that category for the past week.

And the higher end, that’s the over $500,000 price point, continues to languish.

As most everyone is aware now, the $8,000 tax credit for new homebuyers has been extended until April 30, of 2010. I’m still convinced that is driving a very significant percentage of the lower price sales. Some say as much as 40% of those sales are qualifying for the credit.

One plus in the extension is that it now applies to sellers if they buy another home and you do not necessarily have to sell your current home to qualify. That category can get up to a $6,500 credit when they buy.

Housing sales in the greater Knoxville area remain fairly strong relative to our usual seasonal downturn which historically happens about July/August of each year and declining through the winter months until the spring market starts coming to life.

However houses are bought and sold every day of the year and it looks like more than normal are going to be bought and sold through the next few days of this year and into 2010.

Good news for the Knoxville, Tennessee real estate market.

Here’s a link to a great article by Marc Roth jokingly titled “If you don’t buy a house now, you’re broke or stupid.”

And here’s the place to go find that house to buy: www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com

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