By DON FENLEY

High-end building permits were up 31% during the first nine months of 2025. It’s recognition of robust confidence in the region’s long-term value and of evolving the Tri-Cities lifestyle.

Permits jumped from 273 in YTD 2024 to 357 in YTD 2025, according to data from the Market Edge. The Market Edge is a building permit compilation service based in Knoxville. The company compiles data from the 23 Tri-Cities code enforcement offices in the region’s seven counties. Bill Fox, the Boyd Distinguished Professor Emertius at the University of Tennessee, once said the Market Edge was the best permit data resource in East Tennessee.

The increase and trend are more than a reflection of an economic boom. It’s a surge in high-end real estate construction and reflects higher wealth migration and investment in the region.

This high-end category is defined by permits for single-family housing units over 4,000 square feet or with a permit valuation of $400,000 or more.

The total number of these permits jumped from 281 in 2022 to an estimated 357 in the year-to-date (YTD) 2025.

Here’s how the high-end permit Q3 to Q3 performance looked in neighboring markets:

• Chattanooga, up 74.6%
• Knoxville, up 6%
• Asheville, down 15%

That’s the regional assessment of what has happened. Here’s how it looks in county-level markets”

Washington Co. TN: The Anchor of Affluent Migration

Washington County, TN is the clear leader and engine of this level of expansion. The county’s high-end permits have surged from 110 in 2022 to a massive 176 in YTD 2025.

This increase suggests a new wealth level – some of it organic and some from new residents. The sheer of permits – more than double the next highest county – confirms Washington Co.’s role as the primary high-end housing hub for the entire region.

Sullivan County: High-End Volatility

Sullivan County has seen the most dramatic swings in the high-end segment. Permits soared from 72 in 2022 to a regional peak of 108 in 2023, reflecting intense demand in the Kingsport-Bristol areas.

The count then adjusted to 88 in 2024. However, the current YTD 2025 number of 78 indicates a strong year-over-year recovery. That suggests a stable, although more measured, appetite for this class of homes.

Steady Expansion of The High-End Footprint

The data shows that the demand for high-end homes is solidifying across the entire Tri-Cities:

• Greene County has shown reliable, steady high-end growth. It increased from 47 permits in 2022 to 65 in 2024. While smaller in volume than the anchor counties, its consistent rise shows that luxury development is not confined to the main metro centers.
• Washington County, VA has maintained a respectable contribution, moving from 26 permits in 2022 to 34 in YTD 2025. This steady increase showcases the cross-state appeal of the Tri-Cities lifestyle for this class of housing development. The Washington Co. growth trend includes the draw of communities like Abingdon and the Virginia Highlands.

Another way to look at the high-end market is sales. According to the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors (NETAR) there have been 732 sales in the $400K-to-$499,999 price range so far this year. That’s an 11.8% increase from the first 11 months of last year.

There were 74 new listings in that price range in Nov., up from 70 last year. So far this year, 1,175 homes in that price range have been listed. It’s an increase of 23.8% from the same period last year.

The current active inventory of homes in the $400K-$499,999 price range is 331, up 40.3% from Nov. last year. That accounts for 13% of the total active inventory in the Tri-Cities.

Categories: REAL ESTATE