For the first time since September of 2006 unit residential sales here in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee are up compared to a year ago. That’s right, reported July home and condo sales for our Gatlinburg area are now totaling 134, which is exactly one more sale than was reported in July of 2008. Now one unit over a year ago is not yet proof that the market is turning but it IS one more small piece of evidence indicating that the market is showing signs of life. I thought it might not be until August that we would surpass the results from a year ago but it happened more quickly than we thought. The real test is still what happens in August – Will the rally continue or is it just a teasing “flash in the pan” as the oldtimers used to say? We’ll have to wait to see but I do have several pending sales expected to close in August including one set for today. In fact, I have around 10 sales that are supposed to close in August. If other agents are also having a good month we should nicely surpass August 2008’s total sales of 128. Here is the trendline as I have been tracking it: