© 2008 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

This week, Neighborhood of the Week is revisiting a great historic neighborhood just south of the river, Island Home Park.

Island Home began life as a “streetcar suburb” sometime around 1910. In fact, the median that divides the modern day Island Home Boulevard was once where the streetcar tracks ran that served the neighborhood.

© 2008 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

The Island Home Park Neighborhood Association Website has a fascinating history of the neighborhood that was excerpted from the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Island Home Park, written by Ann Bennett of the Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission. It includes great information about Perez Dickinson, the owner of the original “Island Home” summer cottage that is now part of the Tennessee School for the Deaf, as well as details about the varied architectural styles found in the neighborhood, including, most significantly, the Craftsman and Bungalow styles.

© 2008 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

The full history on the IHPNA site is definitely worth checking out when you have the time.

Residents of Island Home also get to enjoy living just minutes from two parks, Ijams Nature Center and Island Home Park.

Ijam’s is a 160 acre wildlife sanctuary with walking trails and regular events like Owl Prowls and Bat Nights.

Island Home Park is a 3 acre city park that features picnic tables, a playground,  a tennis court, access to the Will Skelton Greenway and water access for launching canoes.

© 2008 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

Island Home is a low turnover neighborhood and choice homes often sell by word of mouth before they ever hit the market, so interested buyers have to keep a keen eye on the market.

With it’s close proximity to downtown, Island Home is an easy drive to both downtown and UT campus and is easily accessible via I-40 and the South Knoxville Connector.

So if you’re looking for a historic, close-knit neighborhood with easy access to downtown, UT campus, and parks, Island Home might be a great place to call home.

© 2008 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

Here’s Island Home by the numbers -

Island Home*

Current On-Market Listings - 2
Average Asking Price: $284,500
Median Asking Price: NA
Average Square Footage: 3224
Most Expensive Listing: $370,000 (5 BR, 4 BA, 4500+ sq ft renovated bungalow)
Least Expensive Listing: $199,00 (3 R, 2 BA, 1900+ sq ft remodeled two story)

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

Closed Sales - 3rd Quarter 2008 - 0
Average Sales Price - NA
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market -NA

Closed Sales - 3rd Quarter 2007 - 2
Average Sales Price - $169,550
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market -63

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 11/10/08 for Island Home proper, and does not include adjacent subdivisions, condos, PUDS 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 Island Home Listings” or “New Island Home Listings” in the subject line and I’ll take care of the rest. I like jammin’, not spammin’.

Know a great neighborhood you think has NOTW potential? Let me know about it and you might just see it featured here in the coming weeks.

© 2008 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

This week Neighborhood of the Week goes back down south just off of Alcoa Highway to a nice little neighborhood with a quaint little name: Martha Washington Heights.

Located off the east side of Alcoa Highway between Woodson Drive and Maloney Road, Martha Washington Heights is a laid back, established neighborhood consisting mostly of homes built in the 1950s-1970s, although there is some newer construction along the edges of the community.

Like Harrill Hills and Westwood, MWH contains a nice blend of mid to late 20th century home styles, including ranchers, traditional two-stories, and, of course, split foyers.

© 2008 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

Since it’s right on Alcoa, Martha Washington heights is convenient to UT, downtown, and Tyson McGhee airport. It’s also within very easy commuting distance of West Knoxville, since it’s easily accessible via I-40 and I-440.

© 2008 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

So if you’re looking for something centrally located that’s also a little off the beaten path and that also has a good bit of character and nice, big trees, you might want to take a closer look at Martha Washington Heights.

© 2008 Robert Stockdale Photography, All Rights Reserved.

Here’s Westwood by the numbers -

Martha Washington Heights*

Current On-Market Listings - 6
Average Asking Price: $243,517
Median Asking Price: $228,700
Most Expensive: $389,000 (3 BR, 4 1/2 BA, approx 3000 sq ft all brick home built in 1989)

Least Expensive: $184,900 (3 BR, 2 BA, 1500+ sq ft built in  1974)

Middle of the Road: $237,500 (3 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 3400+ sq ft cape cod built in 1994)

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

Closed Sales - Jan 2008 - June 30 2008- 1
Asking Price - $249,000
Sales Price - $246,000
Days on Market -88

Closed Sales - Jan 2007 - June 30 2007- 5
Asking Price - $212,640
Average Sales Price - $208,400
Median Sales Price - $239,000
Days on Market -77

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 9/08/08 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 Martha Washington Heights Listings” or “New Martha Washington Heights Listings” in the subject line and I’ll take care of the rest. Spam? We don’t send no stinkin’ spam.

Think your little corner of K-Town would make a great Neighborhood of the Week? Let me know about it and you might just see it featured here one day soon.

Special thanks to AAKT’s resident photographer, Robert Stockdale, for the great shots of Martha Washington Heights. If you would like to learn more about Robert’s work, please visit his website.

Well, I’ll be! It’s Wednesday already and you know what that means - time to watch them there foreclosures. This week active listings and closed sales are up while pending sales are slightly down.

In new listing news, 37806 made its first appearance since I’ve been keeping tally and 37920 made up for lost time by contributing 4 new foreclosure listings to the pile this week.  And in case you were wondering, 37917 is still in the lead with 28 new foreclosure listings since mid-July of this year.

Now for the breakdown:

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 9/03/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 151
Average Asking Price: $135,755
Median Asking Price: $89,900
Most Expensive New Listing: $302,000 (3 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2700+ sq ft in Karns)
Least Expensive New Listing: $17,000 (3 BR, 2 BA, approx 1300 sq ft in South-Doyle)

Notable New Listings:
North: $124,900 (3 BR, 2 BA, 1200+ sq ft in Halls)
South: $117,900 (3 BR, 2 BA, 1200+ sq ft off of Stone Road)
East: $137,000 (7 BR, 2 BA, 1600+ sq ft in Holston Hills)
West: $225,000 (4 BR, 3 1/2 BA, 3100+ sq ft in Concord Hills)
Current Pending Sales -107
Average Asking Price - $92,161
Median Asking Price - $72,500

Closed Sales August 27, 2008-September 02, 2008 - 11
Average Asking Price - $117,907
Average Sales Price - $109,023
Median Sales Price - $87,500
Average Days on Market -43

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 9/03/08 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. Between blogging and selling real estate, I honestly don’t even think I could find the time to spam you even if I wanted to. Which I don’t.

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!

Since last week’s NOTW was Sequoyah Hills, I thought Lakemoor Hills would be interesting to look at this week. Also known as the “poor man’s Sequoyah” or “Sequoyah South” due to its location across the river from Sequoyah Hills, Lakemoor Hills is a beautiful, established community just off of Alcoa Highway at Maloney Rd. But don’t let the nicknames fool you - with over 250 homes, many with lake frontage, lake views, or ample acreage, Lakemoor Hills is by no means a second class neighborhood.

Lakemoor Hills*

Current On-Market Listings - 6
Average Asking Price: $474,943
Median Asking Price: $369,900
Average Square Footage: 3437
Most Expensive Listing: $995,000 (5 BR, 5 1/2 BA, over 6500 sq ft on over 4 acres)
Least Expensive Listing: $229,900 (3 BR, 2 BA, approx 1833 sq ft)

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

Closed Sales - February 2007 - 1
Average Sales Price - $495,000
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - 160

Closed Sales - February 2008 - 0
Average Sales Price - NA
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - NA

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 3/24/08 for Lakemoor Hills proper, and does not include adjacent subdivisions, condos or PUDS.

What neighborhoods would you like to see featured in the future? Any other stats that you’re itching to have?