For the first 4 months of the year the Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors stats show that our company, RE/MAX All Pro, Realtors, is again number one in total sales volume among all companies in our board. The statistics also show that our market continues to be soft, with total sales in most categories down sharply from the same very robust sales period of a year ago in 2006.

While the total number of units sold in the period Jan 1 – April 30th 2006 was 1408, only 1113 were sold during the same period this year. This is a sharp decline of 20.05% from the unsustainable sales activity of the same period last year. Interestingly, residential units without garages (the best way to select only vacation homes) were off the sharpest amount of any category – down a very sharp 31.9% from the same 4 months in 2006.

On a more upbeat note, residential unit sales of more traditional homes are nearly even from a year ago. By analyzing only the sale of maintenance free (brick, stone, stucco, or vinyl) exterior homes, one learns that the 444 sales of this year are just slightly behind last year’s 466. Furthermore, the total dollar volume of sales of this type home are actually up slightly meaning that the average price of sold primary residence type homes is up significantly to offset the slight drop in units sold. Running the numbers one learns that the average sales price in 2007 of maintenance free exterior homes is $195,763 which is an increase of 9.44%.

My analysis of these stats is that our real estate market, particularly the second home market, continues to struggle in comparison to last year’s record pace. Our number one performance in the community shows that we are continuing to lead the market even in the slower environment. It is a great time to be a buyer of real estate because there is plenty of inventory to choose from and buyers definitely have the upper hand. A year ago sales were often made with the buyers never seeing the property for fear that they would lose it to another bidder. Now buyers have the upper hand and sellers are offering incentives and price reductions to make the sale. If you have an interest in owning (or selling) real estate in the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville areas please let me know how we may assist.