BONNY C. MILLARD | The Ledger Mmemphis Daily News. http://justlistedknoxville.com/
Knoxville’s housing market seems to be making steady gains after the setbacks of the Great Recession.
Doyle Webb, president of the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors and a Realtor with Realty Executives Associates, says the area’s housing market will continue to improve over the next five to 10 years and surpass its 2007 sales’ levels.
Irresponsible mortgage lending across the nation led to instability. When international banking giant Lehman Brothers crashed in September 2008, the collapse brought global financial devastation. Knoxville and its surrounding areas felt the impact, but didn’t suffer as much as other communities.Webb, also a licensed contractor, says the area started feeling the decline at the end of 2007, but has been rebounding over the last few years.
He reflects on Knoxville’s housing market today and how it survived the recession during a chat with The Ledger.
Q: What does the Knoxville housing market look like in 2014?
A: “The market has gotten better … 2006, 2007 was our high, and the market was really strong. It dropped from there. 2009-2010 was pretty much a low. Sales dropped tremendously. It seems like [years] 2010-11-12 and 13 and 14 has gotten better every year.
“Not only have the sales been getting better, but also the value of homes is getting better. We’re starting to recover, but we’ve not completely recovered from where we were. I do believe in the next five years, we’re going to surpass where we were at in 2005, 2006 or 06 and 07.”
Q: How are home sales in 2014 compared to the last few years?
A: “In 2007, we were 8,471 (sales). Now we’re back at 7,145. We went down to 4,811 in sales (in 2011).”
Q: When did the real estate market in Knoxville begin to feel the economic downturn? How did it fare?
A: “The average sale price was $188,897 in 2007. Now that was pretty much a high at the first of 2007. At the end of 2007, we start to see it really drop off. We realize something is going wrong. I don’t think any of us realized that it would last so long.
“The housing market has always brought us out of every recession we’ve ever been in. The housing market is the strongest. It’s always gotten people to work. It’s always gotten sales.
“New construction of homes employs so many people. It affects so many industries. Just think of appliances and parts that go into appliances. Or the windows. Even down to the nails.
“So when that [new construction] starts really booming…that’s what brings us out of our recessions. We didn’t see that in this recession because housing was part of what got us into it – the financing part. [The industry was] selling homes with no docs, that means no documentation.
“They [buyers] didn’t even have a job. It was like an issue where ‘everybody needs a home, and it doesn’t matter whether you can afford it or not. We want to get you a house.’ The mentality got us in trouble.
“That’s why the recovery’s been so long. The government has made so many rules and regulations with the financing. It was hard, even if you had good credit to get financing. Plus with the downturn, people lost jobs and now they could no longer afford a home.”
Q: Knoxville and the surrounding areas were a boon for real estate prior to the economic collapse. Many of those projects were left unfinished. How have things on that front changed?
A: “In 2005 and 06, they (builders) were trying to keep up with the buyers and the demand. Then the demand dropped off. We see the demand wasn’t there, and we have all this inventory. That’s where a lot of these builders either went bankrupt or they ended up selling for a little less, pennies on dollars, just to get out from under it.
“A lot of builders have left the market because housing really went down, and a lot of builders cannot get spec financing. We’re starting to see that opening up just a little bit.”
Q: How have Realtors fared during this transition period?
A: “As Realtors, we’ve lost some. A lot of them got out of the business, but we stayed in as an association with education. We really kind of bumped that up and got into ‘OK, what can we do to help our members in the real estate world and try to make things better.’
“Things have changed. Technology. We’re boosting up on the education for everybody to get on board, and this next generation to be ready. I think our market today is an exciting place to be.
“The Realtors have TAR, Tennessee Association of Realtors, and NAR, National Association of Realtors. Once you’re a Realtor with the association, you have all those backing you.”
Q: How does the future of real estate in Knoxville look?
A: “The customers are getting back into the market. The demand’s going to come back, and it’s already been coming back. It’s just been slow. We’re really going to start seeing it in the next five to 10 years come back in this market in this area.”
Q: What are people looking for in a property? What areas are they interested in?
A: “It’s still location, location, location. It’s just like Sequoyah Hills, a 1,200 square foot house there you’re paying $300,000 for. You could buy somewhere else a lot cheaper.
“People are always looking for a deal, a value too.
“It’s a lifestyle, especially those people moving back in the arePeople are looking for lifestyle. You have places like Tellico Village, and places where they have a lot more events going on in the community, golf courses or stuff like that. I think we’re going to start seeing more of those neighborhoods with sidewalks.
“We’re definitely going to see a lot more nicer neighborhoods that’re coming in with the lifestyle. Some of them are mixed use. Like Northshore, you have office with a little retail and homes.
“The downtown thrives, and it’s going to do better. I love seeing a vibrant downtown are
“Any city you go to, it’s always good to see that, and it’s really good to see that in Knoxville. It’s a desirable area to live. They get that mixed use feeling there.”
Q: What can consumers expect with today’s prices?
A: “Today, as far as prices, we’re probably getting close to where we were in 2004, so actually our prices are going back up.
“You’ve got your average price of sales around $181,000. It depends on neighborhoods. It depends on location of the neighborhoods.
“In West Knoxville, a house will sell a little bit higher because more of your infrastructure is out there. You have your Turkey Creek, your mall, everything right there. It makes your home values higher.
“We are seeing places in Maryville and west Knoxville, two or three offers on the same home. If it is priced right, they’ll see two or three offers on it after they list it.
“Houses will sell easily in six months. We’re back to 90 days on the market on the average if your price is right.
“If you go five percent over price, then you lose a lot of your customers that would normally buy just because you’re overpriced.
“It’s a good time to sell in today’s market, and it’s a good time to buy in today’s market. If it’s priced well, it’ll sell fast. Two years from now, that same house might be another $10,000 more because prices are going up. They will continue to go up, I think, within the next 10 years." http://justlistedknoxville.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment