Back in the glory days of 2005, Smoky Mountain real estate agents were taking grand vacations to the South of France and the South Pacific, driving expensive automobiles and living in very nice homes. Then came the American Great Recession which began in late 2007 and our local Gatlinburg area real estate market was no different. By 2008, Smoky Mountain realtors were choosing to camp in the National Park, driving much more modest vehicles, and very sadly, in some cases, losing their own homes in foreclosure. We’re not just talking about real estate investment homes, but in some cases, where their children slept. This was the beginning of the foreclosure phase of our market which ran almost 8 years and still continues, although at a greatly reduced rate.
As the table below shows, each and every year since 2008 with the sole exception of 2011, the pace of sales has increased over the previous year and even 2011 didn’t miss by much. This improving trend has continued with sales in 2015 well over 100 units above the year to date total of 2014. Of course, there is no guarantee that the upward trend will continue but if it does 2105 will be a very nice year indeed! While I’m not booking a vacation to Tahiti just yet, it does look good from here!
