How is the real esate market in Knoxville? (Maryville, Farragut: sales, real estate market)

[bfskinnerpunk]

Given the downward trend in the real estate market nationwide...is Knoxville suffering a similar situation?

Unfortunately, I bought toward the end of the real estate bubble, so I stand to suffer a bit of a loss if things go badly in this area.

From what I have heard, Knoxville never did enjoy the incredible boom of some areas (like my last town, Orlando), so it is somewhat less likely to see the downfall of real estate prices.

So what's the word? My googling skills must not be very good because I haven't been able to find any specific info on real estate sales and price trends in this area.

Are prices stable? falling? rising?
How quickly are homes selling...and is it at the same rate as last year?
Is the population of Knoxville growing?

So many questions!

I'm new to the forum. I wish I would have found it before moving here, it could have saved me some time in finding a home here (I bought last year).

[Angelo]

Did you try Realtor.com. it has helped and yet confused me. The forum has helped. I have a few threads posted, one with some info that may be helpful look for the "North Knoxville" thread. Many comments there

[suzycue]

Originally Posted by bfskinnerpunk

Given the downward trend in the real estate market nationwide...is Knoxville suffering a similar situation?

Unfortunately, I bought toward the end of the real estate bubble, so I stand to suffer a bit of a loss if things go badly in this area.

From what I have heard, Knoxville never did enjoy the incredible boom of some areas (like my last town, Orlando), so it is somewhat less likely to see the downfall of real estate prices.

So what's the word? My googling skills must not be very good because I haven't been able to find any specific info on real estate sales and price trends in this area.

Are prices stable? falling? rising?
How quickly are homes selling...and is it at the same rate as last year?
Is the population of Knoxville growing?

So many questions!

I'm new to the forum. I wish I would have found it before moving here, it could have saved me some time in finding a home here (I bought last year).

I was just in Knoxville for Memorial weekend and I can tell you prices there are getting high, but they are still reasonable to me since I compare them to Florida prices...I looked into several areas…West Knoxville…Dante Court area , we saw a Brand New constructed home 4 + bedroom and 3 bathroom, like 2,500+ sq ft for $217,000, this is around the Powell area; then around Farragut area (south of Knoxville) we found the most expensive homes to be, but this is because these are located in the upper mountains and some near the lake and the views are amazing….rich people , I guess live here…then we went North of Knoxville (Washington Pike and Roberts Rd.) here we found lot’s of new construction and pretty affordable homes within $150,000 and up prices…Maryville is a bit more mix in price…you see cheap and expensive, depending on what area…I guess it would depend if you want to live up in the mountains area or other…..I just wonder what it will be like in a year or two from now…I am going to sell my home in Miami, but I am going to rent for a least a year when I move to Knoxville until I get familiar with the area…there is a lot of areas to choose from to live so, I’d rather continue my research while I live there before I buy…Also, I am pretty sure that near the Cedar Bluff area is pretty expensive too since it is an area where a lot of corporations are….theses are my observations….. hope this helps you…

[bfskinnerpunk]

Actually, I already own a home here in knoxville... bought it last year at this time...Holston Hills (on the far east side of Knoxville...not the bad "near east" part). It had the right mix of low price, a neighborhood with character (the good kind), quiet, and beautifully forested.

You are doing the right thing.... renting for a while.

I was basically asking if the real estate market here in knoxville is suffering from the same depression that other parts of the nation are experiencing.

From what I understand, Knoxville never got terribly "hot" and so is not so susceptible to depressions.

Nevertheless, I would guess that by now there should be some real stats regarding home sales rates and prices as compared to previous years.

[sliverbox]

All my relatives live in the area and from what they are telling me, Knoxville is not unlike most other areas in the country: There is a glut of homes on the market, homes are taking a longer time to sell, and the upper portion of the market is going down in value. We're talking at the 250k+ level because anything above that is ridiculously overpriced for the region. What is still selling are the lower end homes, like the 100k and below homes. It also doesn't help that so many new homes were built, and to this day are still being built.

As far as area like Farragut,West Knoxville, and so on, these areas have ALWAYS been pricey places, even before the housing boom. I recall running cross country against Farragut in High School, and we thought they must be absolutely spoiled-rotten rich kids because we'd show up in our beat up Fords and they'd get dropped off in their mom's BMW. That and they had actual uniforms with their names embroidered on the shorts while we were simply told to "wear something black"

[hoosier07]

Here some additional information:

This month's Money Magazine is listing the 100 biggest U.S. markets in real state and the top 10 gains and losses by city and location:

Knoxville, TN:
Median Home Price: $137K
% of income mortgage payment: 15%
Change in home prices in the past year: +5%
Change in home prices forecast growth to April 2008: +1.7%
Worst 12-month decline period: -0.1 (1984 - 1985)

Nashville has very similar numbers with the average home price being a little higher at $159K

Miami, FL for example has an average home price of $335K with 41% of the paycheck going towards the mortgage payment, has suffered a -1.3% price change in the past year and there is a forecast of -8.8% growth until April '08.

It looks like a stable condition for TN with small but continue growth.

[sliverbox]

Knoxville, TN:
Median Home Price: $137K
% of income mortgage payment: 15%
Change in home prices in the past year: +5%
Change in home prices forecast growth to April 2008: +1.7%
Worst 12-month decline period: -0.1 (1984 - 1985)

Nashville has very similar numbers with the average home price being a little higher at $159K

Yes, this seems right in line with what I've read for the general market in TN, which is a fairly stable, but nowhere near as dramatic as the severe ups and downs as places like FL, NY, and CA. I think this is a good thing because prices will stay within reasonable levels and prevent the economy from being affected by housing prices that become too high. I think the last time I read projections for Nashville, the numbers pointed towards a 1-3% annual appreciation for the next 2 years. Good news for buyers, and not bad news for owners either.

As far as the question as to whether Knoxville has been suffering the same depression as other places, well you're right about it not having got as "hot" here. For example, I live in Northern CA. Prices in my town went from an already high level of 330k to over 620k from 2003-2005, an incredible 50% appreciation in 2 years. This level is totally artificial and out of line with economics, so the area is very susceptible to depreciation, or at the very least, years of stagnation.

[mbmouse]

Geesh, I said the same a few months ago and no one would believe me.
I said we had a normal 5%-7% equity growth per year and the average house takes 2-3 months to sell. Everyone jumped on me saying that everything was changing and prices are going to fall. But now that Money magazine writes it, every one agrees...............LOL!
Oh well, such is life hehehehehehe
(I am just joking by the way, no I am not really upset, I think it is rather comical actually)

[sliverbox]

well, seeing that last year in Knoxville was a 'good' year with 5% appreciation, and the recent forecasts show a 1-2% appreciation kind of shows a somewhat slow appreciation in my opinion,if not stable which again is just fine and dandy to me.

And as far as the avg citizen paying 15% of their income on their mortgages, that is UNHEARD of almost everywhere else.The latest data for CA shows that the avg family pays AT LEAST 50% or more of their income on their mortgages. Lots of people eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by sliverbox

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And as far as the avg citizen paying 15% of their income on their mortgages, that is UNHEARD of almost everywhere else.The latest data for CA shows that the avg family pays AT LEAST 50% or more of their income on their mortgages. Lots of people eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner.

Knoxville is about 43rd on that list. There about 34 other cities on that list where it takes 15 percent or LESS. The rest of the country is not California.