May’s residential sales as reported by realtors in our Great Smoky Mountains Association of Realtors are in and the results are a mixture of positive and negative news. The good news is that sales for May were up sharply from previous months this year as a total of 147 homes were reported sold according to our MLS. If fact, you have to go all the way back to October of 2007 to find a better performance in a single month:

Although this is certainly good news when you look a little closer the numbers still aren’t great. While our real estate market has made some good progress recently the doctor had better not leave the emergency room just yet as the real estate patient has a long road to travel before they can be considered completely healed. Even though May’s sales are great compared to recent months they were still fully 36% below last May’s numbers which itself was a lower than the same month in 2005 & 2006.

Furthermore, there are large differences in how various sectors of our market are performing. For example Sevierville entry level residences are still selling better than Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge vacation homes. The smaller homes in Kodak and Seyour are also selling a little better than more expensive properties.

Still, it is good to see an increase month to month and hopefully June will prove that May isn’t just a flash in the pan. May’s residential sales results reported by local realtors do reflect the general increase in activity that I mentioned on this blog several weeks ago. Stay tuned as June’s sales tally isn’t far off and we should know much more when the month ends in just a few days.

If you are looking for a great real estate investment opportunity you won’t want to wait until everyone agrees that the market has started back up. People who purchase property now will very likely be sitting pretty in a couple of years so don’t be a “Johnny come lately” and miss this chance to buy Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, or Sevierville real estate at prices not seen in a few years. For more information about anything related to Gatlinburg area real estate please contact us.