Data source. Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors’ Trends Report.

Many Tri-Cities homeowners ushered in the New Year feeling a little bit better about their economic place in life. That’s because 2019 was a banner year for both existing home sales. It was also a year that saw the smaller city housing markets increase their market share.

And since we’re entering a Census year using 2010 average single-family existing home sales is an appropriate benchmark – especially for those who bought that year. Elizabethton and Greeneville owners who fit that bill can wear especially big smiles. The average sales price in those two towns led the region with better than 30% gains. And, Erwin/Unicoi and Bristol Tenn. were not far behind.

Every major city market in the Tri-Cities saw a double-digit increase from the 2010 average at the end of last year. And the smaller markets that increase their market share over the 2018 totals had even more to smile about with the price comparisons.

While you hear a lot about how those who invest in the stock market, reality dictates that most people invest more in their homes than the market. That’s why consumers are so optimistic when prices and values increase. They feel wealthier.

Market share is one way to look at how the distribution of the housing recovery.

Back in 2010, Johnson City’s single-family sales accounted for 31% of all the single-family sales in the region’s major cities. Kingsport was a not-too-close second with a 26.5% share. In 2019 Johnson City and Kingsport still claimed a little over 60% of all single-family resales, but the share had shifted to the smaller city markets. One way to look at it is the housing recovery than took off in 2015 had finally embraced the smaller markets. It didn’t hurt that – in most cases – they also had some of the more attractive sales prices at a time when inventory was tighter than most real estate professionals could remember.

Categories: REAL ESTATE