Historically, January is rarely a great month for real estate sales. At least in our Smoky Mountain real estate market this is generally the case. Typically, the winter months are the slowest with the summer being the most active time of year. As the table and charts below show, residential unit sales in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville and surrounding areas have dropped rather dramatically recently:

Interestingly enough I have a large number of pending sales currently which seems to run counter to the experience that most agents are experiencing this winter. The reason is that a good portion of our business is focused on marketing bank owned real estate – foreclosures. This segment of the market is currently red hot. We listed a residential home for sale for an out of state bank last Friday and entered it into the MLS database on Saturday morning. By Monday we had no less than 8 offers and the property now has a pending contract for 25% over the original asking price.
The moral of this story is that there are excellent opportunities available for ready, willing, and able buyers. The low interest rates that we are enjoying currently and the good prices available due to the large number of homes available for sale have combined to create a historic opportunity for shrewd investors to buy property at excellent terms. Keep in mind that sellers in our market may not be as motivated as those in some other parts of the country. This is particularly true for second home properties where in many cases there is no real pressure on the owner to sell – just a desire to do so.

If you are interested in buying or selling real estate anywhere in Sevier County or would like more information about our current market conditions here in the Smokies please contact me at Jeff@GatlinburgHomes.com.