Welcome back to Foreclosure Watch. Things are eerily quiet here at Foreclosure Watch HQ this week as on-market listings are staying put at 148, pendings only slightly climbed to 104 and sales dropped just a tiny smidge to 8. I guess no news is better than bad news, right?

Now for the breakdown:

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 6/11/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 149 ?
Average Asking Price: $134,639 ?
Median Asking Price: $89,900 ?
Most Expensive New Listing: $199,900 (4 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2000+ sq ft in Sterchi Hills )
Least Expensive New Listing: $9,900 (2 BR, 1 BA home in need of major repair in Mechanicsville)

Notable New Listings:
North: 3 BR, 2 BA, 1200+ sq ft in Halls
South: 3 BR, 2 BA, 1900+ sq ft brick rancher off of John Sevier Hwy
East: 4 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2000+ sq ft in Holston Hills
West: 3 BR, 1 BA, 900+ sq ft on Concord Rd

Current Pending Sales -104 ?
Average Asking Price - $84,746 ?
Median Asking Price - $68,400 ?

Closed Sales June 04, 2008-June 10, 2008 - 8?
Average Asking Price - $99,975?
Average Sales Price - $96,756 ?
Median Sales Price - $96,750 ?
Average Days on Market - 61 ?

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.

Ever wonder what the heck I’m talking about when I ask you to subscribe to All Around K-Town? Check out this great explanation from Casey Peters at Knoxify on what this RSS subscription stuff is all about.

The first Tuesday of every month is Sales Meeting in my office. That’s the day we all file into the conference room and hear about who sold what the previous month. This involves a lot of Power Point slides, coffee, donuts, giggling and smart ass comments. It’s a good time.

Some meetings are good, because the company made its goals the previous month in terms of listings taken, pending sales turned in, and closed sales.

There haven’t been a lot of those good meetings lately.

But just as we were all on the brink of despair, thinking those graph lines on the Power Point slides were doomed to only go down and not up, something amazing happened last month: business picked up. We actually had our best month since July 2007, making our goals for both pending and closed sales. Even better, the number of pendings and closings for this May was only slightly down, 5% or so, from May of last year.

Listings taken were way down, but as someone in the crowd pointed out, most of the houses in Knoxville are already on the market anyway, so what’s left to list? Hehehe. Yes, we have some budding comedians over at West Town. Actually, our inventory is about the same as it was this time last year - it’s just that houses are taking a lot longer to sell, if they sell at all.

So, the question is this: are our numbers an indicator of what’s going on in the rest of the Knoxville market? Unfortunately, my crystal ball is broken, so the answer to that question will have to wait until the May Home Sales Report comes out in a few days. For now, I’m just happy to have caught a glimpse of a possible light at the end of the real estate tunnel.

This week Neighborhood of the Week heads to the north side of town and steps back in time by way of Old North Knoxville.

Old North Knoxville is a historic neighborhood just north of downtown and 4th & Gill. Built from the 1880s to the 1940s, the neighborhood is roughly bounded by Central Street and Woodland Avenue to the west of Broadway, and Cecil Avenue, Sixth Avenue, and Glenwood Avenue to the east of Broadway.

Like 4th & Gill and Island Home, Old North Knoxville was originally one of Knoxville’s streetcar suburbs. From the Old North Knoxville, Inc. website:

Old North Knoxville was developed as a streetcar suburb between the 1880’s and the 1940’s. Streetcar suburbs had a strong pedestrian orientation. Most people walked to their homes from the street car stop. The automobile did not have a major influence on Knoxville until the 1920’s, so there are few driveways or garages in the neighborhood. Some carriage houses remain behind the oldest houses, but most people did not own a horse and carriage. They depended on the streetcars for transportation and used the neighborhood sidewalks to reach the streetcar lines.

North Knoxville was incorporated on January 16, 1889. Larger than the current Old North Knoxville neighborhood (several original subdivisions make up the current Old North Knoxville Historic District), it was a desirable residential area and grew rapidly. North Knoxville provided a water supply, improved streets, fire protection, a city hall, and a school for approximately 100 students. Electric lights were installed in 1899 and a city sewer system was planned but not built due to annexation in 1897.

Architecturally, Old North Knoxville is very diverse:

Late 19th century styles found in the neighborhood include: Queen Anne, Queen Anne Cottage, Eastlake, Shotgun, and Folk Victorian. Early 20th century architecture include: Craftsman and Bungalow, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Dutch Colonial Revival, Neoclassical, American Four Square, Minimal Traditional, and French Eclectic.

The neighborhood was made a historic district in 1922 and restoration and renovations have been ongoing since that time. Old North Knoxville, Inc. and Knox Heritage have both worked to save homes in the district which would otherwise have been demolished.

Geographically, Old North Knoxville is very convenient to downtown and UT and is easily accessible via I-40, I-275, and I-640.

If you want a home in a historic neighborhood with lots of sidewalks and trees, a strong sense of community and a commitment to preservation, Old North Knoxville might be just what you’re looking for.

Here’s Old North Knoxville by the numbers -

Old North Knoxville*

Current On-Market Listings - 13
Average Asking Price: $191,346
Median Asking Price: $184,900
Most Expensive: $285,000 (3 BR, 3 BA, 2700+ sq ft Southern Colonial Revival home)
Least Expensive: $84,900 (3BR, 1 BA, 1000+ sq ft Craftsman)

Current Pending Sales -4
Average Asking Price: $105,425
Median Asking Price: $114,950

Closed Sales - Q1 2007 - 9
Average Asking Price - $120,422
Average Sales Price - $118,733
Median Sales Price - $95,000
Average Days on Market - 47

Closed Sales - Q1 2008 - 9
Average Asking Price - $124,600
Average Sales Price - $115,500
Median Sales Price - $112,50
Average Days on Market - 77

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 6/09/08 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 Old North Knoxville Listings” or “New North Knoxville Listings” in the subject line and I’ll take care of the rest. No spam or sales pitches, I super pinkie-swear promise.

I’m always on the lookout for places to highlight in Neighborhood of the Week, so let me know if there’s a community you’d like to see featured here sometime soon.

The weekly poll is ready and waiting for your voting pleasure - you know where to find it. This week’s topic goes out to those of you who take the time to read my humble blog: what is your living situation? Are a renter, homeowner, or something else entirely? Cast your vote and/or let your voice be heard in the comments.

Whether you rent, own, or even rent to own, you can still subscribe to All Around KTown or follow me on Twitter - no credit check required.

Here’s how to:

… owe $416,000 on a home you only paid $153,000 for. - The Housing Bubble Blog

… make money by walking away from over $3.9 million worth of home loans. - New York Times

… have a negative net worth and buy a home without even realizing it (and still manage to make the payments on it). - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Yesterday over at KnoxViews, I saw a very cool map, showing Knoxville’s public transit lines circa 1931. The map includes the city’s now defunct street car lines.

If you zoom in on the larger image, you can see where the lines went to various “street car communities,” such as 4th and Gill and Island Home.

It looks like the line ran as far north as Fountain City and as far east as Chilhowee Park. If you wanted to head west, you apparently had to take something called the “Electric Coach Line. ” Since there’s also a separate listing for the “bus line,” I’m a little stumped as to what an “electric coach” is. Any ideas?

If automobile traffic is more your style, check out Michael Wender’s post on Knoxify comparing the I-40 of 1960 with the present day version. My how things how changed.

My company, like probably every other real estate company, keeps track of listings taken vs. listings sold. Today I had a chance to review our averages for the last few years and the trend is startling. Check this out:

Percentage of Listings Sold By Year

2005 - 80%
2006 - 70%
2007 - 50%

These numbers are rough and rounded off, but there’s a definite trend there, no? I would hazard a guess that the percentages for most other area companies are roughly the same (even though I’m sure a lot of companies don’t want to admit to it). If this trend holds up for 2008 (and keep in mind this is totally hypothetical and purely unscientific), that means that at least 50% of the homes we have listed this summer simply won’t sell. That’s tough.

But that also means that - hypothetically - 50% will sell. So, who will make the cut? The extremely motivated: the folks who are willing and able to get their homes in pristine condition and who are also willing and able - you knew this was coming - to lower their listing price. Because the fact is that there are buyers out there, lots of them, they’re just not that motivated. A few years ago, low interest rates and the prospect of getting rich fast motivated them. Today their biggest motivation is price, namely the lowest price they can get. This doesn’t mean you have to give your home away, but it does mean that your home must be competitively priced. Now is not the time to get rich. Now is the time to cut your losses and move on if you have to move.

If you do have to sell, get a good agent who will market your home like crazy. Make sure it’s getting lots of internet exposure and multiple photos on Realtor.com. And then listen to your agent. If they are doing their marketing and the home is still not showing, that price may have to come down and/or the condition of your home may need to be improved.

If you’re not that motivated to sell, and you really want to get more money when you sell your home, now may not be the time to put your home on the market. I know that’s hard to hear - heck, it’s hard for me to say, considering I’d love to list and sell your home this summer - but it’s the truth.

The good news is that homes are still selling. They really are, I promise. And just like everything else in life, this market shall pass - it just may not pass as quickly as a lot of us would like.

What’s up Watchers? This week Knoxville’s on-market foreclosure listings and sales are down, while pending sales are up. And although closings are down this week, I have a feeling that as the weather gets warmer, we may be seeing more and more pendings and closings as banks finally get willing to take less money for these properties that are only weighing them down. What do you think?

But enough about the future. Here’s the current breakdown -

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 6/04/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 148 ?
Average Asking Price: $137,784 ?
Median Asking Price: $89,450 ?
Most Expensive New Listing: $520,000 (New 5 BR, 3 1/2, 4200 sq ft home off of Northshore)
Least Expensive New Listing: $34,900 (2 BR, 1 BA home in Mechanicsville)

Notable New Listings:
North: 4 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2400+ sq ft home in Halls
South: 3 BR, 1 1/2 BA, 1700+ sq ft in Colonial Village
East: 4 BR, 2 BA, 1400+ sq ft 85 yr. old brick home off of Magnolia
West: 3 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2500+ sq ft in Cambridge

Current Pending Sales -100 ?
Average Asking Price - $80,611 ?
Median Asking Price - $67,400 ?

Closed Sales May 28, 2008-June 03, 2008 - 10?
Average Asking Price - $111,320?
Average Sales Price - $106,671 ?
Median Sales Price - $73,950 ?
Average Days on Market - 65 ?

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 6/04/08 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.

Why put off til tomorrow what you could do today? Go ahead and subscribe to All Around KTown while you’re here.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) just put out their 2008 Member Profile, a survey of their more than 1.2 million members. As usual, there are some interesting stats:

- 2007 median income for a Realtor was $42,600.

- 2007 median income for a Realtor with 2 or less years in the business was $10,500 (ouch).

- Median transaction sides (closings) for 2007 was 8.

- 5% of members are also involved in mortgage brokerage (yikes!).

- Only 5% of Realtors choose real estate as their first career (duh).

- 60% have a personal website (hmm…).

- Only 27% own a digital camera (wt…?).

- Only 19% own a GPS device (the other 81% are still lost somewhere in Karns).

And because it’s NAR, you have to pay for the privelige of reading the full report - $125 to be exact. If you don’t feel like ponying up that kind of cash, you can read a lot of the highlights here.

Why haven’t I heard anything about this anywhere else? According to WBIR, a group of concerned Fountain City residents are “pushing hard for a new citywide ordinance that would force developers to add sidewalks to any new or refurbished development” in Knoxville. Huh.

Knoxville City Councilman Bob Becker is apparently behind the proposed ordinance and says:

“Making the whole city more pedestrian-friendly changes the dynamic… It moves us from being a very good city into being a great city.”

The city council is going to have a workshop on the issue on June 12th. Maybe someone should send them the link to WalkScore before then?