Knoxville Sales Are Up…
PRICES ARE STILL FLAT…WHY??
The Sales in the Knoxville Real Estate market have been up over the last few months. Mostly because of low interest rates and the tax credits that end today. But the prices remain flat and it is really just excess inventory that is coming off the market.It is going to take a major drop in the Knoxville real estate inventory before we see and increase in prices. Earlier this week, Standard & Poors released its February Case-Shiller Index, a home price tracker for select metropolitan areas.
Overwhelmingly, home values fell in the 20 markets tracked by the Case-Shiller. Only San Diego showed a modest increase. The other 19 markets averaged a 1.23 percent decline between January and February.
However, that’s not the story you read in the most papers. Instead, headlines read that home values were up in the United States, citing annualized data.
Unfortunately for active home buyers and sellers, year-over-year data isn’t all that helpful when making a real estate decisions. It’s the month-to-month data that matters. Month-to-month changes in home prices are what defines a housing market. Month-to-month is what sets the tone for contracts and negotiations on a purchase.
The rosier, annualized data published this past week just doesn’t capture the reality of what was the February 2010 market. And even then, the data is somewhat useless because it’s from February and May will be upon us next week.
Case-Shiller is on a 2-month lag — hardly reflective of the “right now” of real estate in Knoxville.
When you’re looking for real estate data that actionable, consider using sources that are more “real-time”. A real estate agent may be the right place to start. Because for all the data that Case-Shiller and the other housing indices collect, it can never be as relevant to your individual needs as a well-executed, timely market analysis.
Check out my 5 Step Program to make your buying experience smooth and painless. It is FREE and will help you. Call me at 865-675-8326 or [email protected] I would love to help you find a new home
