By DON FENLEY

The Tri-Cities region had a strong April. Buyers and sellers closed 757 deals, and the median sale price reached $288,000. That combination of rising volume and rising prices says the market has begun the prime home buying and selling season in earnest.

Who’s Doing the Most Business

Kingsport led the region with 122 sales. Johnson City was second at 106 sales. Together, those two cities accounted for nearly one in three sales across the entire region.

Jonesborough (54 sales), Greeneville (48 sales), and Elizabethton (41 sales) filled out the top five. Greeneville tracked almost exactly with the regional average on both counts. Jonesborough was a touch below on volume growth but compensated with the region’s highest median price.

Elizabethton is the volume story of the month. Sales more than doubled year over year. That’s the biggest surge in the region by a wide margin. One month doesn’t make a trend, and a spike that large sometimes reflects a backlog clearing rather than a fundamental shift, but it’s worth watching next month.

Three markets — Bulls Gap, Gate City, and Surgoinsville had five or fewer sales in April and were excluded from this narrative. Those numbers are too small to draw reliable conclusions and are included in the table for reference only.

Where Prices Are Highest

Jonesborough commands the region’s top median price at $400,000. It’s been a consistently premium submarket, and April’s 4% price gain kept it right in line with the regional trend.

Among markets with meaningful sales volume, the next tier of price leaders:

• Johnson City – outpacing the regional price gain
• Bluff City – essentially flat year-over-year and high price point, stable
• Gray – notable price acceleration
• Abingdon – solid gains above the regional pace

Kingsport stands out as the region’s best all-around performer. It’s the volume leader. It’s growing faster than the region. Its median price of $301,875 jumped 22.1% the strongest price growth among high-volume markets. That’s outperforming the regional benchmark on every meaningful measure.

Markets Moving Against the Grain

Bristol, VA saw sales drop 40%. That was the sharpest volume decline in the region among markets with enough transactions to be meaningful. Prices also dipped 5.7%. That diverges sharply from the regional momentum and from Bristol, TN, which posted a 12.5% sales gain on the other side of State Street even though Bristol, TN prices fell 12.5%. That suggests buyers there are finding deals.

Erwin was the only other market to post a year-over-year sales and price decline.

Categories: CORE DATA, REAL ESTATE