housing market knoxville Archives

Knox County Housing Market Snapshot | March 2025

HOUSE LISTINGS & INVENTORY ON THE RISE…

The upward trend of new listings and housing inventory continued in March. More specifically, our total housing inventory is up over 35% from a year ago.

The increased number of homes on the market continues to push up the number of days that homes remain unsold. In addition, fewer homes are selling for the full asking price because of increasing competition in the market.

That said, home prices in Knox County are still slightly higher than a year ago. Despite higher housing inventory, the overall demand for homes in our area is keeping prices relatively steady.

Our local economy remains very strong with tremendous growth potential. Therefore it’s still a good time to be buying or selling real estate in this area, especially with recent declines in mortgage interest rates.

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Knox County Housing Market Snapshot | January 2025

NAVIGATING FOGGY WATERS

Home sales and home prices both continue to remain higher than they were 12 months ago. This indicates that the demand for housing in Knoxville remains relatively strong.

That said, total housing inventory is up almost 30% from this time last year. Should our housing inventory continue to increase, this will put downward pressure on home prices as homebuyers will have more listings to choose from. Also, the number of homes sold at or above the list price is WAY down from what it was in early 2024, which is another indicator that we may be heading into a more “buyer’s market” in 2025.

Housing affordability remains a major issue for our area. Some experts believe that only about 25% of those looking to buy or sell a home right now are able to do so comfortably. Should interest rates drop significantly in the coming months, this should spark more demand for homes that could potentially push prices upward.

Overall, the direction of our housing market is murky at best right now. Depending on how some key factors play out will determine how home prices, housing inventory, and home affordability evolve in the Knoxville area.

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Selling Knoxville | Episode 10

Selling Knoxville is a local lifestyle show highlighting the Greater Knoxville area! The show is currently streaming on Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Roku.

In this episode, Holli sits down with board members from the Greater Knoxville Homebuilders Association to discuss the housing challenges in Knoxville and what the association is doing to improve them.

To learn more about the Homebuilders Association of Greater Knoxville, visit https://www.hbaknoxville.com/

Knox County Housing Market Snapshot | November 2024

Home prices in Knoxville remain higher than at this time last year (just over 7% higher to be exact). That said, the total housing inventory in our area is almost 40% higher year-over-year. This should help keep local home prices relatively steady, despite the demand for housing continuing to remain strong.

It is also good news for home buyers as they have more homes to choose from than at any point since early 2020. Home buyers also have a little more leverage when it comes to making offers and negotiating contracts.

Interest rates ticked down a bit from earlier in the month. As of now, the consensus from credible sources such as Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association is that rates should remain in the mid-to-low 6% range throughout 2025. Some outliers say rates could drop below 5% in 2025, but all sources agree that rates will continue a downward trend next year.

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Knox County Housing Market Snapshot | October 2024

SLOW & STEADY…

adequately explains the Knoxville real estate market right now… Despite the inventory of homes on the market being up over 30% compared to the summer and the overall number of homes sold declining for the 3rd straight month, home prices remain fairly consistent.

The limited supply of homes relative to the housing demand in the Knoxville area is a major factor in why home prices remain slightly higher than last year. This demand is fueled by a strong local economy with a relatively low unemployment rate.

On the surface, the ongoing trend of more list price reductions (year-over-year) would suggest that home prices are declining. However, that is not really what is happening…

More home sellers have been listing their homes at “above-market” prices. While this was an effective strategy to get top-dollar for one’s home in 2021, and most of 2022, it is not nearly as effective in today’s market. As a result, more home sellers are reducing the prices of their homes in order to sell them at current market prices.

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Knox County Housing Market Snapshot | September 2024

More Homes to Choose From…

The total housing inventory in the Greater Knoxville area is up over 42% from last year. This is good news for home buyers who were frustrated due to the lack of available homes on the market. For most home sellers, you can likely expect longer days on the market and fewer multiple-offer scenarios.

That said, home prices and the rate of home sales are both up slightly from last year. Overall demand for homes in our area does not appear to be slowing anytime soon. Many factors account for this trend, but the 2 most prevelant are related to declining mortgage interest rates and access to higher-paying jobs in the Knoxville area.

The Knoxville housing market remains strong with a positive outlook heading into 2025. Based on the current numbers, those expecting a major market crash in our area may be waiting a long time…

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Knox County Housing Market Snapshot | July 2024

HOW ‘BOUT THOSE INTEREST RATES?!

Over the past month or so, we experienced a slow and steady decline in mortgage interest rates, but nothing substantial. That changed when the higher-than-expected unemployment numbers came out on Friday, August 2nd, sending rates on a sharper downward trajectory.

Also, there is growing sentiment that the Federal Reserve will lower the fed funds rate by 50 basis points in September. While this drop won’t have a direct impact on mortgage rates, the effect should continue to put downward pressure on rates.

Median home prices in the Greater Knoxville area remain higher than last year, despite a growing supply of homes on the market. The number of active listings in Knox County is at its highest point since late 2020.

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Knox County Housing Market Snapshot | June 2024

Overall, June was a relatively uneventful month for the local housing market. That said, there are signs of changes coming…

Mortgage interest rates jumped up in the middle of June but regressed back down to around 7%. The expectations from Fannie Mae, the Mortgage Banker’s Association, and the National Association of Realtors are that rates should continue to move downward to around 6.8% by the end of this year. Lower interest rates could provide some much-needed improvement to housing affordability and potentially lead to more home buyers entering the market.

The most notable trend is the continued rise in housing inventory. The number of active/unsold listings in Knox County is 30% higher than it was a year ago. Higher housing inventory should continue to put downward pressure on home prices, but for now, the high demand for homes in our area continues to push home prices slightly higher.

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Knox County Housing Market Snapshot | April 2024

STEADY AS SHE GOES…

Overall, there has been very little change in the Knox County housing market over the past few months. Home prices have remained consistent despite rising housing inventory.

The number of new listings that hit the market in April was the highest monthly total since August of 2022. Given that the average number of days that homes are on the market and the sales-to-list price ratio have both remained steady is evidence that there is still very strong demand for homes in our area.

The big news for the housing market in April was the higher-than-expected inflation numbers, which kept the Federal Reserve from lowering rates. In turn, mortgage interest rates increased over the 7% threshold. While many experts predict that rates will eventually decline, the timing of this downward trend has been delayed.

That said, we are eagerly awaiting lower interest rates to help ease the housing affordability issues we’re experiencing throughout the county.

Despite higher rates, the number of jobs and people coming to Knox County continues to fuel the demand for housing in our area. Housing experts still predict slight growth in home prices over the next few years.

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Knox County Housing Market Snapshot | February 2024

EMBRACING THE CURRENT REAL ESTATE MARKET

After a steady decline to start the year, mortgage interest rates have crept back up over the past few weeks due to better than expected US economic news. The expectation is still that rates will decline throughout 2024 and into 2025. However, the rate and significance of this trend will likely be longer and slower.

Despite slightly higher interest rates and higher sales prices, the number of homebuyers seems to be slowly increasing as we enter the spring. The overall demand for housing is still very high in the Knoxville area, driven mainly by a robust job market and favorable cost of living relative to many other parts of the country.

We’re also seeing more and more homebuyers actively looking to purchase homes who have been patiently waiting on the sidelines over the past 3 to 4 years. Most of these people are saying that their motivation to buy a house right now is linked to changes in their families and personal lives.

From a home seller’s standpoint, the number of days-on-market continues to rise. However, average home prices still remain higher than they were at this time last year.

We do expect the overall housing inventory to be on the rise this year. If this inventory gets high enough, it could negatively impact home prices. That said, we are still pretty far away from that scenario coming to fruition with our local housing inventory being 1/3 of what it was in 2018/2019.