The number of properties with foreclosure filings in the Johnson City, Kingsport-Bristol, and Greeneville metro areas dropped to a 12-year low in 2019.

There were 708 Tri-Cities area default notice, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions in 2019, according to Attom Data Solutions’ Year-End 2019 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Local areas included in the report are: the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) comprising Carter, Unicoi, and Washington counties; the Kingsport-Bristol MSA (Hawkins, Sullivan counties in NE Tenn. Washington and Scott counties in SW Va. plus Bristol Va.) and the Greeneville Micropolitan Statistical Area (Greene county).

Foreclosures peaked at 1,472 filings in 2015 across the three metro areas. Here’s how last year’s total looked when compared to the 2015 peak.

Johnson City MSA, down 51.1%

Kingsport-Bristol, down 47.9%

Greeneville, down 64.8%.

Year-end filings were down 14.7% from 2018 in the Johnson City MSA, 21.3% in the Kingsport-Bristol MSA, and 20.5% in Greeneville.

Filings nation-wide were down 21% from 2018 and down 83% from a peak of 2.9 million in 2010.

“The continued decline in distressed properties is one of many signs pointing to a much-improved housing market compared to the bad old days of the Great Recession,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer for Attom Data Solutions. “That said, there is some reason for concern about the potential for a change in the wrong direction, given that residential foreclosure starts increased in about a third of the nation’s metro housing markets in 2019. Nationally, the number also ticked up a bit in December. While that’s not a major worry, it’s something that should be watched closely in 2020.”

There were 42 local bank repossessions in December – three more than December last year and an increase of 11 from November. Filings totaled 97 last month compared to 75 in November and 75 December last year.

Last year’s filings represented 0.25% of the housing stock in the Johnson City metro area down from 0.87% last year; 0.25% of the Kingsport-Bristol down from 1.4% last year; and 0.27% in Greeneville down from 0.35% in 2018.

Categories: REAL ESTATE