Sometimes it's Darkest Right Before the Dawn!
My friend Brett Ellis of Fort Myers, FL who is a member of the CyberStars organization that I also belong to recently posted in his blog that sales were up 80% in July when compared with July 2007 and up even more sharply when compared with the previous year. Furthermore, this is not a flash in the pan one time event sort of thing as their market has for three straight months exceeded 2006 & 2007's units sold.

Why are the real estate market trends in Fort Myers pertinent to our Gatlinburg real estate market? The answer is simple - we tend to follow their lead. The southwest Florida market started to crack in March of 2005 and trended lower in 2006 and even lower in 2007, just like our Sevier County real estate market did, preceding ours by just a few months.

Our markets are also similar in some other ways. Both areas have a large number of second home or seasonal owners and while their run up was sharper than ours in the 2003 - 2005 period we did have a similar, if smaller, price appreciation during that period. Like our market, the SW Florida market is currently experiencing a large number of foreclosures as is our market here in East Tennessee. If history holds, our market should begin its recovery over the next few months. Stay tuned, we'll have the numbers, good or bad and without any glossing over the facts, right here...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Smoky Mountain Water Wells but were Afraid to Ask!

Unlike more urban communities, many Smoky Mountain homes still have water supplied by individual underground wells. The fact is that only a relatively small (but ever growing) portion of our area is served by municipal utility water. This is rarely a problem as wells here in the Gatlinburg and surrounding area usually produce clear and good tasting water for significantly less cost than utility water once the one-time expense of drilling the well is covered. In fact, while there are certainly exceptions, our area is known for exceptionally clean and good tasting well water. More than one brand of bottled water is actually drawn from underground sources right here in the Smokies. What can go wrong you ask? Unfortunately, plenty! In those relatively rare cases where a well’s iron or sulfur content causes the water to be unsuitable, a water filtration system can generally be installed to remedy the situation. Water filtration can be as basic as a very inexpensive cotton string filter th
Read more

Comments Please!

I have had this blog since 2003 but didn't really get serious about regularly writing here until the beginning of 2007. I do truly enjoy the opportunity to share my thoughts about our local Gatlinburg area real estate market including the surrounding communities of Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Seymour, Kodak, and Cosby. The only problem with writing any type of blog is that you really aren't sure just how many people are reading much less care about what you are pontificating about. If you are reading this blog, regularly or for the very first time, PLEASE comment me. It's easy, painless, and won't leave any sort of mark. In fact, you can even remain totally anonymous but yet let me know that you are out there. Like the age old question of "If a tree falls in the forest with nobody there to hear, does it make a noise?", a blog writer could wonder "If I write something meaningful but nobody reads it, does it matter?". If you like, you can even tel
Read more

Comments Please!!

Just wondering how many folks are out there reading this Gatlinburg real estate blog.  Please comment with your home town - You can even stay anonymous if you wish. If you want, tell me more about yourself (if you already own property in Sevier County or are just considering doing so, what you would like me to write about in the future, etc.).  Thanks in advance for your comments, whatever they might be!!
Read more