Every month without fail since the beginning of this year, our Gatlinburg area real estate market has been scoring very impressive increases over the same month a year ago in the number of residential real estate transactions closed. This eight month long winning streak is now definitely at risk, with September’s weak results of only 136 completed residential sales as reported by the Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors. Only January’s very weak tally was lower than what we have recorded so far for September. Part of the challenge is that we are comparing to a relatively strong year ago month when 159 homes were sold by the real estate agents of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Kodak, Seymour, and Cosby Tennessee. Here is the latest information in table form:
When comparing the second best month of last year to the second worst month of this year, it is not a surprise that the result is, at least for now, a negative. As always, I expect to see several more sales reported late by local Realtors but the fact is that we may not bridge this sizable gap. The good news is that we will easily surpass 2011’s total sales next month, and 2012’s total should be significantly above 2011. Still, I hate to see a great winning streak come to an end…