Welcome to the home stretch of the 3rd Quarter, Watchers! This week on Knoxville Foreclosure Watch, active foreclosure listings were down, while pending and closed listings were both up. And I’m doing my happy dance, because that means the numbers all moved in the right directions this week. Yes, it’s only one week, but after last week, I’ll take what I can get.

New listings were pretty spread out this week, with no clear front runner, but 37849, 37917, 37932 and 37934 all had 2 each. 37918 has the most so far this year with a total of 82 new foreclosure listings.

There was  a 3 way tie for most closed listings last week: 37912, 37921 and 37931 all had 3 each. 37918 was next in line with 2 closed foreclosure listings and 37920, 37922, 37924, and 37938 all had 1 each.

Now for the breakdown -

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 09/01/10*

Current On-Market Listings - 209
Average Asking Price: $134,961
Median Asking Price: $99,900
Most Expensive New Listing: $339,900 (5 BR, 4.5 BA, 3700+ sq ft in Saddle Ridge)
Least Expensive New Listing: $28,500 (3 BR, 1 BA, 1200+ sq ft on Luttrell)

Notable New Listings:

North: $269,900 (4 BR, 2.5 BA, 3700+ sq ft in Halls)

South: No new south listings!

East: $49,900 (3 BR, 1.5 BA, 1100+ sq ft fixer upper on .9 acre off Straw Plains Pike)

West: $86,500 (3 BR, 2 BA, 1300+ sq ft off Lovell Rd)

Current Pending Sales - 100
Average Asking Price – $115,863
Median Asking Price – $74,015

Closed Sales August 25, 2010- August 31, 2010 - 15
Average Asking Price – $146,853
Average Sales Price – $139,820
Median Sales Price – $108,500
Average Days on Market – 80

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 09/01/2010 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.

As always, if you need more information on any of these properties, just drop me a line.

If you’d like to receive new foreclosure listings automatically, send me an email with “Foreclosure List” in the subject line, and I’ll do the rest. Girl, I know you don’t want no spam.

Why take the chance of ever missing out on Foreclosure Watch? Make sure you get all your foreclosure goodness every week by subscribing to All Around K-Town today, either by RSS or email!

© 2010 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

This week Neighborhood of the Week heads back out to Farragut to look at a mighty nice neighborhood with its very own swimming pool and tennis court: Farragut Crossing.

© 2010 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

Located just off Kingston Pike just west of Concord Road, Farragut Crossing is a good-sized neighborhood that is easily accessible via I-40 and I-140.

Homes in Farragut Crossing were mostly built during the late 80s and early 90s and tend to be mostly brick 1 and 2 stories with a fairly traditional look. Lots are on the larger size, and the neighborhood is just old enough to have some nice sized trees and mature landscaping.

© 2010 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

Not only does Farragut Crossing have its very own neighborhood swimming pool, it also boasts its very own tennis court, making it a great neighborhood for outdoor recreation when the weather’s nice and warm.

© 2010 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

The neighborhood is also conveniently located minutes from the Turkey Creek shopping area and is also a short drive to lots of good grocery shopping, including the new Farragut Kroger, EarthFare and The Fresh Market.

So if you’re looking for a home in an upscale Farragut neighborhood that comes complete with a pool and tennis courts, you might want to take a closer look at Farragut Crossing.

© 2010 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

All Neighborhood of the Week pictures are provided by Robert Stockdale, photographer extraordinaire. You can check out more of Robert’s work at his website.

Here’s Farragut Crossing by the numbers -

Farragut Crossing*

Current On-Market Listings – 5
Average Asking Price: $382,240
Median Asking Price: $373,900
Most Expensive: $449,900 (4 BR, 2.5 BA, 4100+ sq ft built in ‘88)
Least Expensive: $299,900 (4 BR, 3.5 BA, 3400+ sq ft built in ‘87)
Middle of the Road: $373,900 (4 BR, 3.5 BA, 3500+ sq ft built in ‘92)

Current Pending Sales - 0
Average Asking Price: NA
Median Asking Price: NA

Closed Sales – 1st & 2nd Quarters 2010 – 2
Average Asking Price – $284,900
Average Sales Price – $271,750
Median Sales Price – NA
Average Sq Ft – 2290
Average Days on Market – 19

Closed Sales – 1st & 2nd Quarter 2009 – 3
Average Asking Price – $356,267
Average Sales Price – $339,167
Median Sales Price – $330,000
Average Sq Ft – 3364
Average Days on Market – 172

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 8/30/10 does not include condos, PUDS, adjacent neighborhoods or multi-family units.

As always, if you want any more information about any of these properties, or if you’d like to check one of them out in person, just give me a shout.

If you would like to receive a full list of properties for sale in this neighborhood, or if you would like to be notified of new listings, send me an email with either “Current Farragut Commons Listings” or “New Farragut Commons Listings” in the subject line and I’ll take care of the rest. No. Spam. Ever.

Feeling left out because your neighborhood hasn’t yet been featured as a Neighborhood of the Week? Don’t keep it to yourself, let me know all about it.

photo credit: Silly Little Man

The weekly poll is kind of concerned about last week’s housing news. Go vote and try to calm it down.

This week’s poll topic has to do with all the (not so great) news that came out last week about  national and local home sales in July. Unless you live under a rock, you probably know by now that national and local homes sales were down by almost 30% last month following the ending the home buyer tax credits, which has some people kind of worried about the current state of the Knoxville real estate market (I talked a little bit about this on WBIR this week as well).

However, not all the local news was bad, as prices for 4+ BR homes were up and average days on market was down. Not to mention the fact that we are still enjoying some super awesomely low mortgage interest rates right now.  I’m out there in the housing trenches every day and although it’s happening a lot more slowly than I’d like, I’m still seeing houses showing and selling, which gives me a lot of hope.

Still, a drop that big is bound to make people nervous, so I’m curious: how nervous is it making you? Nervous enough to postpone buying or selling a home? Or maybe you’re just not the worrying kind? Cast your vote and let me know!

Don’t worry — getting the latest news on the Knoxville real estate market is free and easy! Just subscribe to All Around KTown by RSS or email today!

photo credit: Tracy O

Hey there, Watchers — so glad you made it back! This week on Knoxville Foreclosure Watch, active and pending foreclosure listings were slightly down, while closed listings were slightly up. And that’s alright by me, ’cause judging by these numbers we need all the closings we can get.

This year’s dark horse, 37920, had the most new foreclosure listings this week with 4. Other zips with more than one new listing included 37849, 37918, and 37921. 37917 is in the lead so far this year with 87 new listings, although 37920 isn’t that far behind with 84.

There were 10 closed foreclosure listings last week and they were fairly well spread out with 2 each in 37917 and 37918 and 1 each in 37849, 37912, 37919, 37920, 37931 and 37938. And 37918 has the most so far this year with a grand total of 49.

Now for the breakdown -

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 08/18/10*

Current On-Market Listings - 222
Average Asking Price: $135,301
Median Asking Price: $99,900
Most Expensive New Listing: $309,900 (4 BR, 2 BA, 3600+ sq ft in Karns)
Least Expensive New Listing: $25,000 (3 BR, 3 BA, 2200+ sq ft in Villa Gardens that “needs some work”. Hmmm…)

Notable New Listings:

North: $103,000 (3 BR, 2.5 BA, 1200+ sq ft in Powell)

South: $130,000 (3 BR, 2.5 BA, 1600+ sq ft in Tipton Station)

East: $39,900 (3 BR, 1.5 BA, 1100+ sq ft near Parkridge)

West: $172,900 (4 BR, 2.5 BA, 2100+ sq ft in Old Stage Hills)

Current Pending Sales - 94
Average Asking Price – $111,003
Median Asking Price – $79,400

Closed Sales August 18, 2010- August 24, 2010 - 10
Average Asking Price – $116,460
Average Sales Price – $108,980
Median Sales Price – $84,450
Average Days on Market – 108

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 08/25/2010 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.

As always, if you need more information on any of these properties, just drop me a line.

If you’d like to receive new foreclosure listings automatically, send me an email with “Foreclosure List” in the subject line, and I’ll do the rest. Spam, shpam.

Why take the chance of ever missing out on Foreclosure Watch? Make sure you get all your foreclosure goodness every week by subscribing to All Around K-Town today, either by RSS or email!

It’s gettin’ on toward the end of the month and you know what that means — it’s Home Sales Report time. And the Knoxville area July numbers are here, even if I’m not that crazy about them.

Thanks to the Home Buyer Tax Credits that were in effect late last year and early this year, we had a really nice boost in sales in April, May and June. So nice, in fact, that most of us probably temporarily forgot that we’re still in the middle of an economic downturn and fairly major correction in the real estate market.

Now that all of those tax credits are behind us, the July Home Sales Report numbers are here to bring reality crashing back down. No, it’s not all bad news (what up, 4+ BR homes!), but, as you’ll see, year over year sales are down, well, a lot, and that’s going to freak some of you out. And the last thing I want is for you to be freaked out.

As I’ve said before during some of our darker times (you do remember September 2008, don’t you?), homes are still selling, and people will always need/want to move to Knoxville. Trust me on that one.  We pushed through this back in 2008 thanks to the first and then second wave of tax credits, but this time it looks like we’re going to have to ride it out the old fashioned way: by letting the market slowly but surely correct itself.

And the good news is that that’s already happening and has been for quite some time.  Price corrections have been going on for the better part of the past four (yes 4) years and judging by increased home sales prices in some categories, it would seem that we’re not in the same pricing decline we’ve been in over the last two or so years. Heck,  just today the Wall Street Journal even said Knoxville is a great place to invest in real estate, as  ”there is a low probability that home prices will fall further.”  Oh, and we still have some pretty kickin’ super low interest rates that are helping out a whole lot (ask any loan officer you know, if you can actually get them on the phone right now).

So hang tight. This too shall pass. And for all I know, it could pass by next month. You’ll just have to tune back in to see

But enough with the pep talk. Let’s get down to the business at hand and start breaking down the June 2010 Knoxville Home Sales numbers the only way I know how: AAKT style. Enjoy!

And hey, look! There’s some good news!_

Average sales price for 2 or less BR homes is (slightly) up.
Jul ‘09 – $88,100
Jul ‘10 – $89,000

Average sales price for 4+ BR homes is (way) up.
Jul ‘09 – $267,000
Jul ‘10 – $277,300

Median sales price for 4+ BR homes is  up.
Jul ‘09 – $239,000
Jul ‘10 – $242,300

Days on market is down (yes, seriously).
Jul ‘09 – 118
Jul ‘10 – 108

And then there’s some of that not-so-good news -

Median sales price for 2 or less BR homes is (way) down.
Jul ‘09 – $82,000
Jul ‘10 – $74,500

Average sales price for 3 BR homes is (way) down.
Jul ‘09 – $162,400
Jul ‘10 – $152,800

Median sales price for 3 BR homes is (ever so slightly) down.
Jul ‘09 – $137,300
Jul ‘10 – $137,000

Average condo sales price is (way) down.
Jul ‘09 – $163,700
Jul ‘10 – $153,000

Median condo sales price is (way) down.
Jul ‘09 – $144,500
Jul ‘10 – $133,400

This week Neighborhood of the Week heads up to the north side of town, a little ways up from downtown, but not quite all the way to Fountain City, to revisit a small historic community known as Lincoln Park.

Lincoln Park is located just north of the Old North Knoxville and Fourth and Gill neighborhoods and is roughly bounded by Sharps Ridge to the north, Atlantic Avenue to the south, Broadway to the east, and I-275 to the west. It is very often lumped in with the neighboring community of Oakwood, and in fact there is a joint Oakwood Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association. From that association’s web page:

The Lincoln Park community began as a mineral spring resort in 1899 and was probably named for the large Lincoln Park in Chicago. The original Lincoln Park school was located at Atlantic and Kenyon Aves. There were three mineral springs, Epsom, Lithia, and Chalybeate, located where the Lincoln Park Elementary School later stood. An early photograph shows a building with porches on at least three sides with a sign above saying, “Lincoln Park Mineral Springs.” The springs were enclosed so that people had to buy the water and much later were capped. The first school building was erected near the springs by Knox County. The dummy railroad line, which served the neighborhood, became part of the city’s trolley system, following annexation in 1917. Lincoln Park became a part of the city of Knoxville in 1917 along with Oakwood and several other neighborhoods.

The joint Oakwood/Lincoln Park neighborhood association is very active and even has its own clubhouse where neighborhood meetings are held and which residents can rent out for special events.

The homes in Lincoln Park have a lot of character. Many date from at or near the turn of the century and several have architectural characteristics of Victorian and Craftsman style homes. And even though it is a historic neighborhood, Lincoln Park is still quite affordable, especially compared to Old North Knox or Fourth and Gill.

So if you’re looking for a charming, historic, and affordable neighborhood with a strong sense of community that is also convenient to downtown and UT, you might not have to look any further than Lincoln Park.

All Neighborhood of the Week pictures are provided by Robert Stockdale, photographer extraordinaire. You can check out more of Robert’s work at his website.

Note: The stats for this NOTW are only for Lincoln Park. I will be covering Oakwood in a future installment.

Here’s Lincoln Park by the numbers -

Lincoln Park*

Current On-Market Listings – 12
Average Asking Price: $86,100
Median Asking Price: $82,400
Most Expensive: $164,900 (4 BR, 2.5 BA, 2200+ sq ft built in ‘20)
Least Expensive: $45,000 (3 BR, 2 BA, 1600+ sq ft “shell” built in ‘20)
Middle of the Road: $84,900 (2 BR, 1 BA, 1000+ sq ft built in ‘20)

Current Pending Sales - 0
Average Asking Price: NA
Median Asking Price: NA

Closed Sales – 2nd Quarter 2010 – 5
Average Asking Price – $71,100
Average Sales Price – $66,250
Median Sales Price – $65,000
Days on Market – 69

Closed Sales – 2nd Quarter 2009 – 2
Average Asking Price – $73,700
Average Sales Price – $69,500
Median Sales Price – NA
Average Days on Market – 68

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 8/23/10 does not include condos, PUDS, adjacent neighborhoods or multi-family units.

As always, if you want any more information about any of these properties, or if you’d like to check one of them out in person, just give me a shout.

If you would like to receive a full list of properties for sale in this neighborhood, or if you would like to be notified of new listings,send me an email with either “Current Lincoln Park Listings” or “New Lincoln Park Listings” in the subject line and I’ll take care of the rest. Spam? We don’t send no stinkin’ spam.

Feeling left out because your neighborhood hasn’t yet been featured as a Neighborhood of the Week? Don’t keep it to yourself, let me know all about it.

How is it already time to go back to school, Watchers? In this week’s installment of Knoxville Foreclosure Watch, active listings were finally down from their two week high, pendings were finally up right at 100 and closings were… well… down. But hey, two out of three ain’t bad these days, right?

37922 was the surprise new listing front runner this week with 4 new foreclosure listings. West Knoxville’s not immune, ya’ll. Other zips with more than one new listing included 37849, 37917, 37918, 37921, and 37931.

Meanwhile over in closed listing news, 37921 had the most with 2, while 37721, 37849, 37909, 37920, and 37931 had 1 closed foreclosure listing each.

Now for the breakdown -

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 08/18/10*

Current On-Market Listings - 225
Average Asking Price: $135,609
Median Asking Price: $95,000
Most Expensive New Listing: $639,900 (5 BR, 5.5 BA, 5900+ sq ft in Whittington Creek)
Least Expensive New Listing: $14,900 (2 BR, 1 BA, 1100+ sq ft in Fountain City area)

Notable New Listings:

North: $26,000 (2 BR, 1 BA, 900+ sq ft near Fourth & Gill)

South: No new south listings!

East: $69,900 (3 BR, 1 BA, 1600+ sq ft in Carter)

West: $170,900 (3 BR, 2.5 BA, 2400+ sq ft with pool in Lakeshire)

Current Pending Sales - 100
Average Asking Price – $118,852
Median Asking Price – $82,400

Closed Sales August 11, 2010- August 17, 2010 - 7
Average Asking Price – $67,557
Average Sales Price – $68,409
Median Sales Price – $30,015
Average Days on Market – 50

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 08/18/2010 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.

As always, if you need more information on any of these properties, just drop me a line.

If you’d like to receive new foreclosure listings automatically, send me an email with “Foreclosure List” in the subject line, and I’ll do the rest. Spam, shpam.

Why take the chance of ever missing out on Foreclosure Watch? Make sure you get all your foreclosure goodness every week by subscribing to All Around K-Town today, either by RSS or email!

The weekly poll is driving a hard bargain. Go help it with negotiations.

This week’s topic is one I asked about around this time last year, and which is, unfortunately, still a pretty relevant topic in this buyers’ market: how much less than listing price you think the average seller is willing to take to sell their home? In this market it seems that no matter how close to market value you list a property, there are always buyers are going to offer a lot less and have no intention of winding up anywhere near to asking price. While some of these offers are ambitious, others are just downright delusional. And if everyone is lowballing, that makes pricing a listing even more challenging. If you price it too high, it won’t show. But if you price it at or below market, you’ve lost your “lowball” wiggle room. It’s a conundrum.

So I’m curious about what you think. How much less than list price do you think the average seller will accept in this market? Just a little or do you think most sellers have padded their prices by a hefty percentage?  Cast your vote and let me know.

RESULTS:

How far below asking price do you think think the average home seller is willing to go?

You don’t have to drive a hard bargain to get  the latest news on the Knoxville real estate market  – just sign up to receive regular updates from All Around KTown in a feed reader or by email today!

photo credit: woodleywonderworks