Knoxville May 2009 Home Sales Report

June 23, 2009

If I’m posting on a Tuesday, that probably means it’s Home Sales Report time.

So, despite all the movement I saw in my own business and at my office last month, the May numbers are still way off the mark. Bummer. Still, I shudder to think what these numbers would look like without the $8,000 first time homebuyer credit and the still low, but slowly climbing interest rates. I guess we may get to find that out later this year…

Another thing I noticed this month is that the average days on market made a huge upward jump. This reminded me of something I’ve been meaning to talk about here for a while, and that is -

The average days on market is most likely much longer than the number you see here every month.

Why? Well, that’s because the “average” gets skewed by the fact that the Knoxville MLS doesn’t show cumulative days on market for expired or withdrawn listings. If a home expires or is withdrawn and relisted, the days on market count starts over.

Confused? Let me give you an example. Say I have a listing that’s on the market for 180 days, but doesn’t sell. I then relist it and it sells in 30 days. So, in reality, the home was on the market for 210 days before it sold. However, according to KAARMLS, that home would have only been on the market 30 days, since it only counts the last listing period. Pretty big difference, right?

So, not to be the bearer of more bad news here, but I do think it’s important for folks to understand the reality when it comes to the time it will likely take to get a property sold in the current market.

And with that out of the way, it’s time to break down the April home sale numbers the only way that I know how — AAKT style. Join me, won’t you?

First let’s start with our one lonely little piece of good news -

Average sales price for 4+ BR homes is up.
May ‘08 – $286,300
May ‘09 – $308,500

——————

Followed by all of the other not-so-good news -

Average sales price for 2 or less BR homes is down.
May ‘08 – $88,100
May ‘09 – $83,000

Median sales price for 2 or less BR homes is (ever so slightly) down.
May ‘08 – $75,500
May ‘09 – $75,000

Average sales price for 3 BR homes is (way) down.
May ‘08 – $170,900
May ‘09 – $154,500

Median sales price for 3 BR homes is down.
May ‘08 – $151,000
May ‘09 – $143,500

Median sales price for 4+ BR homes is down.
May ‘08 – $249,900
May ‘09 – $246,000

Average condo sales price is down.
May ‘08 – $165,100
May ‘09 – $155,500

Median condo sales price is down.
May ‘08 – $143,200
May ‘09 – $138,000

—–

Total number of single family units sold is (way) down.

May ‘08 – 1,250
May ‘09 – 928

—

Total number of condo units sold is (way) down.

May ‘08 – 146
May ‘09 – 105

—

Days on market is (way) up.
Apr ‘08 – 101
Apr ‘09 – 125

——–

And then there’s the “FHA still rules the financing roost” news:

—

Conventional loans were once again way down…
May ‘08 – 736
May ‘09 – 464

…while FHA loans were just slightly down.
May ‘08 – 223
May ‘09 – 198

And here’s the “Honey, let’s wait until next year to sell” news-

The number of new residential listings was down...
May ‘08 – 2,903
May ‘09 – 2,429

…as was the number of new condo listings.
May ‘08 – 378
May ‘09 – 273

Finally there’s the “Well, at least condo owners are listening to me” news-

—T

The average list price for new residential listings was up...
May ‘08 – $234,200
May ‘09 – $242,600

…while the average list price for new condo listings was down.
May ‘08 – $208,000
May ‘09 – $188,900

—–

—

So, as always, here’s my completely unscientific analysis:

Knoxville residential and condo sales are still soft as that chocolate bar I accidentally left out in my car today.*
Larger home prices continued to rally this month, maybe because the “move-up” buyers are jumping on the low rates and high inventory.
Due to high inventory and still high listing prices, it’s taking longer and longer to get a home sold.
FHA loans are still all the rage.
C’mon, already. We HAVE to be getting close to the bottom some time soon. Don’t we?

If you’re interested in looking at both reports yourself, here is ‘08 and here is ‘09. Enjoy and please feel free to share your thoughts and observations.

*No need to freak out. Lower average sales price and lower median sales price do not necessarily mean that your personal home has depreciated.