The Tri-Cities housing market dropped from being the leaders of the pack in the Federal Housing Finance Administration’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI) in the second quarter to the lower half in Q3. Quarterly price appreciation ranking aside, the Tri-Cities area housing market is well on its way to having another record year for sales and price appreciation.

Local home price appreciation is still solid, but year-over-year comparisons in the Tri-Cities region have seen some big increases – and dips – in the last seven quarters. Some of the volatility is because the index is a same-sales, all-transaction index which lumps home purchases and refinances. That volatility is also most pronounced in the region’s smaller metro areas. There’s little variance in either the Knoxville or Chattanooga MSA during the past seven quarters.

Kingsport-Bristol’s housing market had the best Q2 price appreciation in Tennessee in the Q2 year-over-year index comparison. During the period prices increased by 9.5%. And the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) wasn’t far behind with 7.4%.

The Q3 comparison dropped Kingsport-Bristol’s appreciation to 5.3% and 3.8% for the Johnson City MSA. The median for East Tennessee’s markets during that period was a 6.3% increase.

Morristown’s MSA had the best Q3 price appreciation among Tennessee’s 10 metro areas, while Johnson City had the lowest.

Here’s how the East Tennessee MSAs’ Q3 HPI comparisons look when compared to Q3 last year.

Chattanooga – up 6.5%.

Cleveland – up 6.1%.

Johnson City – up 3.8%.

Kingsport-Bristol – up 5.3%.

Knoxville – up 6.6%.

Morristown – up 8.1%.

Categories: REAL ESTATE