November Wasn’t Cold Except in the Real Estate Biz!
While the weather during the month of November in East Tennessee wasn’t very harsh our residential real estate market here in the Smoky Mountains certainly was. Although my standard disclaimer that not all sales have been posted certainly applies the numbers that have been reported indicate that November was the worst month in several years with only 62 total sales reported by all of the members of our board. Like a very athletic limbo dance champion, the number of monthly sales continues to go lower and each month the bar is dropped to an ever more unbelievable number. Here is the ugly chart that displays the rather sad story:
By the grace of God, I personally have made nearly 10% of the total residential sales reported by our board of over 500 members during each of the past few months. We posted 9 sales in October, 6 in September, and I already have 6 more pending sales for December.
What’s selling in our Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville market at this time? Only the very aggressively priced properties that represent clear value even in these difficult times. Most all of these sales have been foreclosure properties with only a few exceptions that were not bank owned real estate. Our company continues to be the number one selling firm in the area and you can see the numbers for yourself here. If you would like our assistance in either finding a great value or selling property here in Sevier County please let us know by emailing us at Jeff@GatlinburgHomes.com.
Holy Moly, wow, that’s amazing. No place to go now but straight UP – that’s the good news.
Such a gorgeous place to live in your area, too – Here’s to better biz in 2009!
Jeff, this is outstanding reporting and makes the current real estate situation very clear. We are experiencing a similar trend in the Poughkeepsie, NY area. The middle seems to be frozen but first-time buyers are still active. Randy Rutan, Licensed Associate Broker RE/MAX Realty Center Dutchess County NY
Jeff, I remember from when we visited your office a couple of years ago that employment opportunities were abundant (although salaries weren’t high) and property taxes were 1/10 of what we pay in NJ.
I can’t help think that an investor might hesitate to buy one of the fancy Jacuzzi’d vacation cabins you have down in your area, that rent by the week. However single-family or duplex homes to rent out on yearly leases must be attractive.
Joan Prout, MBA
RE/MAX Villa REALTORS
Jersey City, NJ
Thanks Linda! We are also hoping that the limbo dancer has gone as low as he/she can…
Thanks Randy & Joan! Our best market continues to be starter homes that can be leased for much more than their monthly payment. The demand for these homes has held their prices up in contrast to larger residence and vacation home values that have dropped significantly over the past 12 months.