By DON FENLEY

Every submarket in the nine-county Tri-Cities region remains a seller’s market, but that uniform designation masks a widening split between markets where sellers hold the leverage and those where conditions are loosening.

Most markets have two to three months of inventory while the time on market ranges from four to 73 days. It’s a combination that favors sellers in price negotiations and limits buyer leverage. In this environment, well-priced listings are not lingering on the market.

The outliers reveal more than the middle of the pack. Gray’s four-day median time on market is less a reflection of frenzied buyer activity and more likely a signal of listing scarcity. Mt. Carmel data tells a similar story from the other direction. It has the tightest inventory and the most time on market.

Rogersville is a market worth watching for any early sign of a structural shift. It has 5.2 months of inventory. Whether that supply level holds, builds, or erodes toward the regional norm will be a leading indicator of whether broader conditions are thawing, or whether the current seller’s lock-in is durable across the nine-county region.

Abingdon and Bristol, Va. show the longest time on market. That appears to reflect a shallower demand pool rather than a meaningful recovery.

Snapshot of selected markets:

Categories: REAL ESTATE