Gatlinburg Real Estate Blog

When I posted the flash number for December residential sales on New Year's Day , I knew that there would be lots of agencies who would not have posted all of their closings. My forecast of a final tally of 180 units sold proved to be a little below the eventual total as December 2014 residential sales as reported by our Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors MLS database finished at a very strong 185 homes. This is a super-stout number, especially for December which usually tends to be a little slow in comparison to other months. December 2014's performance was the best in several years when compared to previous Decembers. In fact, you have to go all the way back to the very strong year of 2006 to see a better final month of the year. Another very positive comparison is the fact that December of 2014 was better than any  of the months in 2011. Make no doubt about it, Smoky Mountain real estate sales are on the upswing! Volume always moves before prices do but real esta...

When I posted the flash number for December residential sales on New Year's Day , I knew that there would be lots of agencies who would not have posted all of their closings. My forecast of a final tally of 180 units sold proved to be a little below the eventual total as December 2014 residential sales as reported by our Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors MLS database finished at a very strong 185 homes. This is a super-stout number, especially for December which usually tends to be a little slow in comparison to other months. December 2014's performance was the best in several years when compared to previous Decembers. In fact, you have to go all the way back to the very strong year of 2006 to see a better final month of the year. Another very positive comparison is the fact that December of 2014 was better than any  of the months in 2011. Make no doubt about it, Smoky Mountain real estate sales are on the upswing! Volume always moves before prices do but real ...

In the month of August, the roughly 550 active members of the Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors combined for a total of 128 residential units sold.  This isn't terrible, but is about 12% below the total for August 2010.  For the second month in a row, the 2011 totals are exactly equivalent to the disastrous levels of 2008 - This is not a trend we want to see continue!  Fortunately, the feel of this market is better than it was at this point in 2008.  In that dreadful year, this was about the time that everything began to fall off the tracks.  We actually expect a stronger second half of the year but only time will tell.  For those of you who prefer your information in chart form, here it is:

In the month of August, the roughly 550 active members of the Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors combined for a total of 128 residential units sold.  This isn't terrible, but is about 12% below the total for August 2010.  For the second month in a row, the 2011 totals are exactly equivalent to the disastrous levels of 2008 - This is not a trend we want to see continue!  Fortunately, the feel of this market is better than it was at this point in 2008.  In that dreadful year, this was about the time that everything began to fall off the tracks.  We actually expect a stronger second half of the year but only time will tell.  For those of you who prefer your information in chart form, here it is:

No, I'm not talking about the weather, it has finally begun to cool a little .  I'm talking about the residential rental market here in Sevier County.  With fewer people able to qualify for mortgage loans and sadly others who have been foreclosed upon, the rental market is actually going well.  In fact, I have had a hard time locating quality homes for people looking to rent - most reasonably priced attractive homes are already rented.  What this means is that rents will start to go up and that is definitely good news for property values.  All of the homes that I personally own are rented and there are fewer residential rental properties being advertised online.  Even the number of "For Rent" signs that I see as I travel around the county is down.  If you are looking to purchase single family residential investment property now is the time - From Gatlinburg to Pigeon Forge and Sevierville starter home / rental property prices are already starting to g...

No, I'm not talking about the weather, it has finally begun to cool a little .  I'm talking about the residential rental market here in Sevier County.  With fewer people able to qualify for mortgage loans and sadly others who have been foreclosed upon, the rental market is actually going well.  In fact, I have had a hard time locating quality homes for people looking to rent - most reasonably priced attractive homes are already rented.  What this means is that rents will start to go up and that is definitely good news for property values.  All of the homes that I personally own are rented and there are fewer residential rental properties being advertised online.  Even the number of "For Rent" signs that I see as I travel around the county is down.  If you are looking to purchase single family residential investment property now is the time - From Gatlinburg to Pigeon Forge and Sevierville starter home / rental property prices are already starting to g...

Because Saturday (today) is the end of the month most all July real estate transactions were completed yesterday. Although I have seen a Saturday closing, they are VERY uncommon in our Gatlinburg area real estate market.  As I always remind readers, there will be several more closings reported by Sevier County (and the surrounding areas) Realtors during the next couple of weeks but we do now have a preliminary total for July residential sales reported by our Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors. The very early result is a paltry 109 residential units sold by the more than 400 members of our board.  My guess is that the final total will be approximately 130 homes and condos sold but that is still well below July 2009's final total of 145 sales. Although there could be more late reported sales than I am anticipating, I seriously doubt that we will exceed July 2009's tally.  That is very disappointing because it means that a 12 month long consecut...

Because Saturday (today) is the end of the month most all July real estate transactions were completed yesterday. Although I have seen a Saturday closing, they are VERY uncommon in our Gatlinburg area real estate market.  As I always remind readers, there will be several more closings reported by Sevier County (and the surrounding areas) Realtors during the next couple of weeks but we do now have a preliminary total for July residential sales reported by our Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors. The very early result is a paltry 109 residential units sold by the more than 400 members of our board.  My guess is that the final total will be approximately 130 homes and condos sold but that is still well below July 2009's final total of 145 sales. Although there could be more late reported sales than I am anticipating, I seriously doubt that we will exceed July 2009's tally.  That is very disappointing because it means that a 12 month long consec...

In a tough environment, any bit of good news is latched onto by those looking for encouragement. Although a couple of months does not a trend make, the good news is that September's new foreclosure notices for Sevier County ( which includes the communities of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Kodak, and parts of Seymour) were down significantly to "only" 112. After peaking at 147 in June, we are relieved that the number appears (at least for now) to be dropping. Banks are motivated to sell these properties in a hurry and the prices that they are asking are truly fire sale levels. While that is GREAT news for prospective buyers it is enough to give a seller a migraine. Each week, several times a week, I speak with would-be sellers who are unable to sell for what the current depressed market will bear. Each foreclosure creates more downward pressure on prices as the banks stampede to get out the door. All of this panic by the banks does create excellent opportunities f...

In a tough environment, any bit of good news is latched onto by those looking for encouragement. Although a couple of months does not a trend make, the good news is that September's new foreclosure notices for Sevier County ( which includes the communities of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Kodak, and parts of Seymour) were down significantly to "only" 112. After peaking at 147 in June, we are relieved that the number appears (at least for now) to be dropping. Banks are motivated to sell these properties in a hurry and the prices that they are asking are truly fire sale levels. While that is GREAT news for prospective buyers it is enough to give a seller a migraine. Each week, several times a week, I speak with would-be sellers who are unable to sell for what the current depressed market will bear. Each foreclosure creates more downward pressure on prices as the banks stampede to get out the door. All of this panic by the banks does create excellent opportunities f...

Some have it Worse than Others! In my September 1st post (updated today) I published the statistics from our area's MLS database detailing Gatlinburg area residential unit sales as compared to prior months and years. After analyzing the results I thought that it would be interesting (in sort of the same way that the plague could possibly be called interesting) to look at various other parts of our real estate market to see just where we stand (or lean). With a total of 7,992 currently active listings (all categories including residential, land, commercial, and multi-family) posted on our Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors board we are near, but not at, the recent high that I have witnessed. There are at least two reasons for the increase in the number of property listings. One is that our area continues to grow with many more developments than there were a few years ago and more residents as well. Additionally, sales are taking longer to occur so at any one time more prop...

Some have it Worse than Others! In my September 1st post (updated today) I published the statistics from our area's MLS database detailing Gatlinburg area residential unit sales as compared to prior months and years. After analyzing the results I thought that it would be interesting (in sort of the same way that the plague could possibly be called interesting) to look at various other parts of our real estate market to see just where we stand (or lean). With a total of 7,992 currently active listings (all categories including residential, land, commercial, and multi-family) posted on our Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors board we are near, but not at, the recent high that I have witnessed. There are at least two reasons for the increase in the number of property listings. One is that our area continues to grow with many more developments than there were a few years ago and more residents as well. Additionally, sales are taking longer to occur so at any one time more prop...

August Starting Slowly, July Numbers Now Set Now that we are more than half way through August it is time to take one last look at the morbid month of July residential unit real estate sales for our Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors: As you can see the month of July did not fail to disappoint us! In fact, it was the worst July in many years in terms of the number of Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville/Seymour area homes sold. It's much too early to be sure but August doesn't look to be any better than July. In fact, barring a US Olympic Swim Team style finish it looks as if August residential unit sales will actually be lower than July's. This is particularly remarkable as historically August sales are among the highest of the year. We'll have to wait and see but watch this blog for the information as soon as it is available (right around the first of September).

August Starting Slowly, July Numbers Now Set Now that we are more than half way through August it is time to take one last look at the morbid month of July residential unit real estate sales for our Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors: As you can see the month of July did not fail to disappoint us! In fact, it was the worst July in many years in terms of the number of Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville/Seymour area homes sold. It's much too early to be sure but August doesn't look to be any better than July. In fact, barring a US Olympic Swim Team style finish it looks as if August residential unit sales will actually be lower than July's. This is particularly remarkable as historically August sales are among the highest of the year. We'll have to wait and see but watch this blog for the information as soon as it is available (right around the first of September).

A Last Look at April Residential Sales Now that the end of May is almost here it is safe to assume that most (but probably not all) April 2008 sales have been recorded in our local Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors (GSMAR) multiple listing service or MLS. Although more recent trends are encouraging April 2008 did hold onto the dubious distinction of being the worst month in recent history for our area in terms of the number of residential units sold with a total of only 108 with only 74 of these being within Sevier County. The total units sold is sharply lower than the final tally for April 2007 which totaled 197 units sold. In 2008 the median residential unit sales price was $158,750 which is slightly lower than 2007's median value of $162,000. Can you name ANYTHING else that is less expensive than it was a year ago?? The single greatest casualty in April 2008 may be Gatlinburg residential sales which were nearly non-existent at a total of 8 compared to last year's...

A Last Look at April Residential Sales Now that the end of May is almost here it is safe to assume that most (but probably not all) April 2008 sales have been recorded in our local Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors (GSMAR) multiple listing service or MLS. Although more recent trends are encouraging April 2008 did hold onto the dubious distinction of being the worst month in recent history for our area in terms of the number of residential units sold with a total of only 108 with only 74 of these being within Sevier County. The total units sold is sharply lower than the final tally for April 2007 which totaled 197 units sold. In 2008 the median residential unit sales price was $158,750 which is slightly lower than 2007's median value of $162,000. Can you name ANYTHING else that is less expensive than it was a year ago?? The single greatest casualty in April 2008 may be Gatlinburg residential sales which were nearly non-existent at a total of 8 compared to last year's...

New Functionality on Our Website Unlike most of our competition, we are members of BOTH the Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors (GSMAR) AND the Knoxville Association of Realtors (KAAR). This gives our sellers double exposure and also now allows our website visitors to search for properties listed by firms that are only members of the KAAR. While most of the real estate listings in our Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville markets are listed by members of the GSMAR there are some that aren't. So that you will be able to view EVERY listing regardless of which board the listing agency is a member of we are now providing a dedicated page on our website for the KAAR search. This is particularly important if you are searching for property in the Kodak and Seymour areas which are serviced by many real estate agencies who are members of KAAR only. We are sure that you will find it useful and we only ask that regardless of where you find a Smoky Mountain property that you are i...

New Functionality on Our Website Unlike most of our competition, we are members of BOTH the Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors (GSMAR) AND the Knoxville Association of Realtors (KAAR). This gives our sellers double exposure and also now allows our website visitors to search for properties listed by firms that are only members of the KAAR. While most of the real estate listings in our Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville markets are listed by members of the GSMAR there are some that aren't. So that you will be able to view EVERY listing regardless of which board the listing agency is a member of we are now providing a dedicated page on our website for the KAAR search. This is particularly important if you are searching for property in the Kodak and Seymour areas which are serviced by many real estate agencies who are members of KAAR only. We are sure that you will find it useful and we only ask that regardless of where you find a Smoky Mountain property that you are i...

Never Challenge Worse! I believe it was the comedian Bill Cosby that first said "Never challenge worse" as in, some situation can't get any worse. I have borrowed the phrase and use it occasionally to remind myself that things aren't as bad as they could be - they could always get worse. Although the final numbers will likely be slightly better as some end of the month sales may still be unreported, in March, the pace of residential sales in our East Tennessee real estate market definitely got worse : While the drop sequentially from February to March was only 2 units the more important ratio is when this March is compared with March of 2007 and 2006. As you can see by the table above, our residential market's performance in March of 2008 is nothing like previous year's March sales and this is more than a little troubling. Of the 106 residential units sold, only 66 were Sevier County properties with the balance being from surrounding areas including Knox, Blou...

Never Challenge Worse! I believe it was the comedian Bill Cosby that first said "Never challenge worse" as in, some situation can't get any worse. I have borrowed the phrase and use it occasionally to remind myself that things aren't as bad as they could be - they could always get worse. Although the final numbers will likely be slightly better as some end of the month sales may still be unreported, in March, the pace of residential sales in our East Tennessee real estate market definitely got worse : While the drop sequentially from February to March was only 2 units the more important ratio is when this March is compared with March of 2007 and 2006. As you can see by the table above, our residential market's performance in March of 2008 is nothing like previous year's March sales and this is more than a little troubling. Of the 106 residential units sold, only 66 were Sevier County properties with the balance being from surrounding areas including Knox, Blou...