I give up, Josh Flory. You will always beat me to the monthly Home Sales Report. You, sir, are the most timely Home Sales Reporter. But that doesn’t mean I won’t keep adding my own two cents to those monthly numbers. Oh, no. Some of you might say numbers are numbers, but there ain’t’ no Home Sales Report breakdown like the AAKT Home Sales Report breakdown, because… well, there’s just not.

So, here it is, the breakdown of the May Home Sales Report, All Around K-Town style:

As always, you know I like the good news first:

Average sales price of 3 BR homes is up.
May ‘07- $171,900
May ‘08- $184,700

Median sales price of 3 BR homes is (slightly) up.

Now for the not so great, but, hey, come on, you totally knew this was coming news:

There’s a big article in the new MetroPulse about the state of the Knoxville housing market. The article quotes several Knoxville real estate insiders, including an anonymous source, “John Smith.” Apparently John Smith, a recent Knoxville home buyer, wouldn’t give his name, because the deal he got was so dang good. That’s just wild.

But I digress. The article is not all doom and gloom and makes several good points.

1. The Knoxville housing market is not nearly as far in the toilet as other markets around the country.

From the MetroPulse:

The one trend Knoxville is not sharing with areas like California, not even a little, is decreased home values. Yes, people are pricing some homes below their appraised value so they’ll sell quicker in an excess inventory environment. And true, the median Knoxville metro area home price—$146,000—dropped 2.7 percent from the last quarter of 2007 to the first in 2008. The April report from KAAR goes on to say that the median price of a home with four or more bedrooms fell more than 12 percent to $240,000.

But—and this is an important distinction for the average home owner who has a reasonable mortgage and doesn’t need to sell anytime soon—these statistics mean only that the averages of the prices of homes that sold were lower. Local real estate values have not been affected.

Exactly!

2. Local foreclosures are not out of control.

MetroPulse:

Knoxville’s foreclosure rate of 0.6 of a percent and year-over-year increase of 46 percent is only high enough to place us 72 on a list of the 100 largest metro areas.

And as we’ve seen week after week in Foreclosure Watch, the number of active, pending, and closed foreclosures, at least in the Knoxville MLS, is remaining more or less steady, not skyrocketing like some national media outlets would lead you to believe.

And don’t forget. our market is considered so stable, Knoxville was named the 7th best place in the US to invest in foreclosures.

3. Out of control lending was partly to blame for the current market.

From the article:

“In 2005 and 2006 we saw the trend where the appraisals were too high and the amount of money being loaned became 100 percent of the value of the home or even higher,” says Jim Slyman … “So if the market for the home you paid $300,000 to buy slips even 10 percent, you now owe more than $30,000 over and above your loan.”

Along with traditional high-end home buyers, many average folks got bitten. “The reason there have been so many foreclosures is a lot bought houses who should never have been able to qualify…”

Ouch. True, but ouch.

4. The correction of out of control lending practices has knocked a lot of buyers out of the market.

MetroPulse:

“This time last year, you could still get a zero-equity deal, but lenders have tightened their guidelines,” says [Jim] Lee…”It’s tougher to quality for a loan right now.”

This is very true. I had a client a few months ago who qualified for a loan and then got knocked out of the market 3 weeks later when minimum credit scores were raised. This client was not able to buy a home and won’t be able to for another year - and that’s only if they can manage to clean up their credit in that time. Last year, I would have sold that client a home. This year I won’t. Pretty basic cause and effect, no?

The article has a lot more to say about Knoxville real estate, and you can read the whole thing here. After you do, come back and let me know what you think about the Pulse’s take on our local market. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Konichiwa, Watchers. This week on Foreclosure Watch, the on-market listings are up, closed prices are down, and days on market is way down. DOM dropped so much, I decided to go back and take a look to see how it’s been fluctuating over the last few months. Here’s a nifty chart:

It looks like this week’s drop is the biggest since early May. Several of the properties that closed this week were on the market less than 2 weeks. I’m going to watch this over the next few weeks to see if it’s a trend or just a fluke. Any thoughts?

On a technical note: I’m linking to new property info sheets this week. Let me know what you think and which one, old or new, you like better. Thanks!

Now for the breakdown:

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 6/18/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 160 ?
Average Asking Price: $127,971 ?
Median Asking Price: $86,700 ?
Most Expensive New Listing: $314,900 (5 BR, 3 1/2 BA, 4700+ sq ft in Concord Hills )
Least Expensive New Listing: $17,500 (2 BR, 1 BA, 1000+ sq ft in East Knoxville)

Notable New Listings:
North: 3 BR, 1 1/2 BA, 1900+ sq ft on Emoriland
South: 4 BR, 2 BA, 1300+ sq ft brick rancher off of Sevier
East: 3 BR, 1 1/2 BA, 1100+ sq ft in Holston Heights
West: 3 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 1600+ sq ft in Farmington

Current Pending Sales -107 ?
Average Asking Price - $87,062 ?
Median Asking Price - $74,900 ?

Closed Sales June 11, 2008-June 17, 2008 - 10 ?
Average Asking Price - $77,090?
Average Sales Price - $70,800 ?
Median Sales Price - $69,501 ?
Average Days on Market - 37 ?

Sorry! Due to some technical difficulties and lack of patience, no average sales price chart this week!

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 6/18/08 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.

As always, if you have any questions about any of these properties, feel free to drop me a line.

If you’d like to receive new foreclosure listings automatically, just send me an email with “Foreclosure List” in the subject line, and I’ll do the rest. No yucky spam is involved, I swear.

Be the first to know the latest scoop on the Knoxville real estate market - subscribe to All Around K-Town today!

Last month Ken Baker asked me about solar powered homes in Knoxville and, sadly, there just wasn’t a lot I could tell him.

Well, it looks like interest in solar power has picked up some in our area, at least for one KUB customer, Preston Smith, who recently installed 28 solar panels on his barn. According to an article in the KNS, his “solar system” is the largest in the KUB service territory and cost a whopping $50,000.

I’m sure normal, meaning much smaller, residential installations would be cheaper, but I’m thinking that the prices are still going to give a lot of people in our area sticker shock. I would also think this is the type of improvement you would only do to a home you planned to stay in a long time, as I’m not sure you could get your installation costs back dollar for dollar when you sold it.

Any thoughts on this? Would you pay more (probably a lot more) per square foot for a solar powered home?

I know this is going to sound like sacrilege, seeing as how I live in Knoxville, home of HGTV and DIY, but I have always said that I really don’t like to watch home improvement or real estate shows. I say, “I eat, breathe, and sleep houses. Why would I want to watch shows about them when I’m not working?”

And I felt pretty secure in that thinking until I discovered Jeff Lewis. For those of you who don’t know, Jeff Lewis is the anti-hero of Bravo’s real estate reality show, “Flipping Out,” the second season of which premieres tonight. This is the one real estate show I will break my “no real estate show” rule for. Why? Maybe it’s Jeff Lewis’s unbelievable, never-ending OCD. Maybe it’s the fact that he never buys an investment property without consulting a tarot reader. Maybe it’s the fact that he has an employee whose sole duty is taking out the trash. Or maybe it’s the fact that this show has a lot more to do with Jeff Lewis than it has to do with real estate. I’m just not sure.

Here’s one of my favorite scenes from last season:

And I’ll admit it: I secretly can’t wait to see how Jeff and the gang are flipping houses in the now softening LA housing market and still making a profit. Doh! I think I just brought my work home with me.

This week Neighborhood of the Week makes the trek back out west to one of the most swingin’ golf communities in Knox County - Fox Den.

Located in Farragut, Fox Den is more or less the 70s version of Gettysvue - an upscale golf and country club community that was considered by some back in the day to be the most prestigious neighborhood in west Knox County. It’s still pretty swank, and many folks are still willing to pay for the privilege of calling Fox Den home.

Other than age and location, Fox Den differs from Gettyvue in three key ways: lot sizes (bigger), architectural styles (groovier) and prices (lower). Most of the homes were built in the 70s and 80s, and although some still sport custom features like sunken wet bars and sunken avocado green jacuzzi tubs, most have since been updated to 21st century standards. These remodeled homes go for top dollar, while fixer uppers usually go for much less, making comps a tough thing in Fox Den.

So if golf is your game, but you find the Gettysvue price tags a little hard to swallow, Fox Den might be a great choice for you.

Here’s Fox Den by the numbers -

Fox Den*

Current On-Market Listings - 18
Average Asking Price: $636,756
Median Asking Price: $586,500
Most Expensive: $1,189,900 (5 BR, 4 1/2 BA, 7000+ sq ft on estate sized lot)
Least Expensive: $317,000 (3 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2100+ sq ft on Fairway #6)
Middle of the Road: $574,000 (3 BR, 3 1/2 BA, 3400+ sq ft completely remodeled)

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

Closed Sales - Q1 2007 - 1
Average Asking Price - $529,900
Average Sales Price - $435,000
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - 83

Closed Sales - Q1 2008 - 2
Average Asking Price - $362,450
Average Sales Price - $308,070
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - 176

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 6/016/08 does not include adjacent subdivisions, condos, PUDS, or multi-family units.

As always, if you want any more information about any of these properties 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 Fox Den Listings” or “New Fox Den Listings” in the subject line and I’ll take care of the rest. No spam or sales pitches, never, ever, ever.

Know of a great community that would make an equally great NOTW? Let our voice be heard in the comments.

Although a little late this week, the weekly poll is finally up and ready. To cast your vote, simply direct your mouse to the upper left hand section of the blog and click away.

This week’s topic is home magazines - you know the ones that you get for free at Kroger and Food City? Home sellers certainly want their homes advertised in them and Realtors definitely spend a lot of money to do so , but in this day and age, when everyone and their mother has an online home search, are they still effective, and if so, who do you think they benefit?

And out of curiosity, have any of you out there actually either a) found a home you wound up buying in one of these books, or b) sold your home as a direct result of an advertisement in one? If so, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

This past week has been a great one here at All Around K-Town. Not only did the Coldwell Banker CEO find my blog, but I also got a little KNS love in today’s paper.

Both of these things have brought about another part of this week’s greatness: lots of new visitors. If you’re new to AAKT, first of all, welcome and thanks for stopping by. If you’re a regular, well, you’re always welcome and you already know I think you rock, but here, I’ll say it again: you totally rock.

This blog is dedicated to bringing you the latest news on the Knoxville, TN real estate market. If you haven’t been here before, you might want to check out a couple of my weekly features, Neighborhood of the Week and Foreclosure Watch. They seem to be pretty popular with the regulars and they’re chock full of good stuff about Knoxville and the Knoxville real estate market. And don’t forget the Weekly Poll - it’s always here in the upper left hand corner waiting for your vote.

Another great thing to do while you’re here is subscribe to this blog. This will ensure you that you always get the latest updates from this site. You can subscribe in a reader by clicking here or by you can receive new posts by email by entering your email address in the box at the upper right side of the page. If you don’t know what a reader is, check out this great article for an explanation.

Twitter is another tool you can use to keep up with AAKT as well as my whereabouts. If you’re new to Twitter, check this out. It’s a great collection of explanations on what Twitter is and why it’s worth using. And if you want to follow me on Twitter, you can do that here.

I hope you new guys like what you find here and really hope all you regulars still look forward to coming back. If any of you have any questions, comments, concerns, or harangues, you can always give me a shout. I’m used to being harangued.

Thanks for stopping by and look for more great things to come on All Around K-Town.

And in case any of you KNS readers are wondering: yes, Lester is the real brains behind this operation.

Yes, this is for real:

You can now search for your next home on either Wal-Mart.com or Overstock.com. Really. It’s true.

All I have to say is that if Wal-Mart does half as good of a job selling those houses as they did these Chic Jeans, there’s no way they can lose.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled real estate blog post to bring you a very cool, and slightly bizarre, example of the power of social media.. It goes a little something like this..

Two days ago I was sitting in our monthly sales meeting, and I sent out this Tweet to Twitter:

In sales meeting - may was best month since July 2007

This tweet prompted the following exchange between me and Michael Silence, or as he’s known on Twitter, @MichaelSilence:

MichaelSilence: That’s great news. Are you putting up details at your blog?

suzytrotta: hmmm, I hadn’t thought about it, but that’s not a bad idea

MichaelSilence: Shoot me a link if you do, please

So, I did write about it that evening and I sent Michael Silence the link.

Wednesday morning, he posted about my article on his blog, No Silence Here, that he writes for KNS.

Wednesday afternoon, my managing broker forwarded me an email from our business representative at Realogy, the parent company of Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC:

Everyone,

Please read the blog written for the Knoxville New Sentinel indicating how the market in going in this area. The blog was written by Susy Trotta, who is … affiliated with Wallace & Wallace in Knoxville.

Way to go Susy!

Our business director had apparently read Michael Silence’s post on my post. She was a little confused, however - I don’t write this blog for KNS - although KNS blogger Michael Silence does regularly link to it and quote from it. And also, I don’t know anyone who spells their name “Susy.” That’s just silly.

All confusion aside, it was a very nice pat on the back and I was as pleased as punch. As I was feeling all warm and fuzzy, I looked at the list of people she’d sent the original out to and realized that the “Everyone” she was addressing in this email referred to all the top brass at Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC, including Jim Gillespie, President and CEO.

Crikey!

A few minutes later, one of my owning brokers forwarded me an email he received from our CBRE, LLC Regional Direcotor:

Charlie Young [CBRE, LLC Marketing VP] forwarded to me the blog written by your own Susy Trotta. The blog was well written and as was already pointed out, she represented her company very well. Please let her know that I appreciate her for stepping out there and for doing such a good job!

Double crikey!

So basically, as the result of one Tweet, a bunch of Coldwell Banker folks all over the country, who didn’t know me from Adam’s house cat a few days ago, now know about me and my blog (and think it’s pretty cool to boot). How sweet is that?

Now, I’m a commission only independent contractor, so none of this means much to me in terms of career advancement or actual moolah. That much is true.

But that’s not the point. The point is that this time last year, as far as I was concerned, tweets and Twittering were something that birds did. I wasn’t involved in any type of social media or blogging at all. If something interesting happened in sales meeting back then, I would have told my husband about it and that would have been that. This year I hear something intriguing in sales meeting, and the next thing you know, Jim Gillespie knows my name (even if he doesn’t know how to spell it). See the difference between then and now? I think it’s pretty huge.

And even though my brokers already knew about my blog from a few articles in the real world KNS, I don’t think they understood what I was doing or the impact that blogging can have. I think they kind of get it now.

So, if anyone from Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC or its parent company, Realogy, is reading this, welcome and thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your time and kind words.

And if any of my brokers are reading this, remember that nothing tells me I’m appreciated quite like my own office on the ground floor of the West Town building