Knoxville Tennessee Real Estate Blog

The Knoxville & Farragut Tennessee sales figures for May of 2008 are now available to view here.

Days on the market (time from listing to contract) are almost unchanged from this past April; 101 days in May versus 100 days in April of 2008.

The median price of a 3 bedroom Knoxville area home was $184,700 this past May versus $163,600 in April 2008. The median is the middle price; half of all sales were above the median and half were below. With the big rise that means we sold more expensive houses in May than we did in April.

When you compare May of 2008 against May of 2007 there are some differences there as well.

• May 2007 the median price of a 3 bedroom home was $171,900
• May 2008 that median price was $184,700, a $12,800 increase.
• May 2007 days on market was 88 days
• May 2008 was 101 days so it’s taking an average of 13 days longer to sell a house.
• In May of 2007 we sold a total of 1,666 single family homes and condos in all price ranges.
• In May of 2008 we sold 1,213 so that’s 453 fewer units.

All in all, Knox County sales are still good, interest rates are still around the bottom of the 6% range but I tend to agree with the experts and predict they will start drifting upwards in the next few months.

If you’re in the market for a house or condo, www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is a great place to start looking.

Please feel free to call or email me with any real estate questions you may have.

Ah, fishing. Those words conjure up childhood memories of sitting under a shade tree along the riverbank with a cane pole and a can of worms without a care in the world.

Better than just fishing is free fishing.

It’s the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s “Free Fishin Day“, a sponsored event where anyone can wet a line and no fishing license is required. A huge pond at Concord Park will be stocked with catfish with bait and fishing poles if you need one, supplied by area sporting goods stores.

Free Fishin Day; fun for kids of all ages.

The greater Knoxville & Knox County area current has 5,900 acres of land dedicated to 213 public parks. That’s abut 2% of the total land area of the County.

The City of Knoxville’s Parks and Recreation Division offers a wide variety of activities for each member of the family to enjoy. One of the main goals for the Division is to improve recreational opportunities for all Knoxvillians and they do a fine job.

Knox County Park’s Department also maintains a large portion of our area’s excellent parks and recreational areas.

The new, Harvest Park & Farmer’s Market located on the site of the old farmer’s market in northeast Knoxville is the latest addition. Here Knoxvillians can buy locally grown produce directly from the farmers that produced it. Their products are fresher, better quality, and equal or cheaper than supermarket produce.

Knox County’s new, Harvest Park & Farmer’s Market

A recent survey reveals (to no surprise) that over 80% of Knoxville & Knox County residents want more parks. The survey also said that walking trails, followed by bicycle and nature areas are the most used park features.

Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge is a 360 acre wildlife sanctuary in east Knox County. Seven Islands has a rich diversity of wildlife with over 150 species of birds including a pair of bald eagles. The French Broad River which borders the park contains over 50 species of fish which is more varieties that are found on the whole European continent. In addition there are lots of great hiking and walking trails along the ridges and the waterfront and a boat launch ramp.

Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge in east Knox County

Our area’s great parks system is one of the many attractions that make Knoxville & Knox County such a great place to live, work, play, and raise your family.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is a great place to look for your next Knoxville area home.

The Knoxville Realtors Association released their April 2008 home sales data yesterday.

April’s figures show a total of 1,144 closed sales in the Knoxville market versus 1,416 sales in April of 2007. That’s about a 20% drop in volume.

The median priced Knoxville home this past April was $149,000 vs. $152,000 for the same time period in 2007. That means we’re selling more of the less expensive homes.

The average sale price in April of 2007 was $163,600 and $152,000 this April which goes along with the drop in the median sale price.

It’s important to understand that both the drop in volume, median sale price, and average sale price DOES NOT translate to a drop in Knoxville home values although some of my buyers are getting some pretty awesome buys. For instance we just closed last week on a sale where the house was listed for $164,900, we bought it for $156,000 and it appraised for $165,000! Not surprisingly my buyer clients were very happy campers when they got that news.

Higher end homes continue to languish on the market. There are currently 1,137 single family homes priced at $500,000 and above in the Knoxville area market. 24 homes over $500,000 sold and closed this past April so there is still a very, very plentiful supply in that price range. At that absorption rate that translates into almost a 4 year supply of homes priced over $500,000!
On the average sale price end (160-165,000) however there are only 183 homes currently available. There were 78 closed sales this past April so that’s only a little over a 2 month supply. The average time on the market has dropped 4 days to an average time now of 100 days to sale.
Sales seem to still be pretty brisk in the Knoxville area which I believe is being driven by the time of year combined with the very low interest rates still available (5.75-6% fixed, 30 year).

Knoxville’s average days on the market (time to sell a house) is down 5 days, from 105 days in January of this year to 100 days this just past April.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is still the place to visit to see all of Knoxville’s homes, condos, and land for sale. Please call to see any homes you find there or with any real estate questions.

I noticed in today’s Originator Times, a website for mortgage loan originators, that Fannie Mae is loosening up their guidelines for down payment policies by going to a national, single down payment policy to replace the now required higher down payments in markets where home prices are declining. Knoxville, Tennessee BTW is not one of these markets; our home prices increased about 2% over last year’s prices.

However that still does not make them competitive with FHA insured mortgages in the greater Knoxville, TN area because of their “risk based” interest rates and higher mortgage insurance premiums for borrowers getting a mortgage for more than 80% of the value of the home they’re buying.

Current Fannie Mae requires you to accept a higher interest rate for lower credit scores, which translates into higher monthly payments, if your credit score is under 720 which is really a pretty decent score. If your FICO score is below 620 you would be looking at an interest rate over 7% today for a Fannie Mae loan.

In the Knoxville area the new FHA loan limits are up to a $271,000 sales price and you can still qualify with a credit score as low as 580!

If buying a home in the Knoxville or Farragut area is in your future I invite you to call me and let’s talk about how we can make that happen for you.

There is a big selection of homes for sale, interest rates are both attractive and available (contrary to what you hear in the news), and it’s a buyer’s market in Knoxville, Tennessee.

You can view Knoxville, Farragut, Maryville, Oak Ridge, and other area homes for sale on my website, www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com.

Now that Knoxville gas prices have passed the $3.50 a gallon mark, the huge increases are a frequent subject of conversation (not to mention other words not printable here ;-0).

One way to escape paying the higher gas prices is simply to walk more to destinations. Lots of parts of Knoxville are not particularly “walker friendly” but many are.

Besides being a very healthful exercise, walking is also a great way to get places, especially if they’re nearby. Besides the wonderful fresh air and exercise you get walking, it’s a great way to meet your neighbors and others. I very rarely run into an unfriendly walker, most will wave to you, smile, and speak.

Don Anderson, one of my fellow Realtors, during a recent hike we enjoyed in the Great Smoky Mountains; hiking is a great walking activity.

Here’s a great website I located that lets you calculate your home or neighborhood’s “walk score“.