Gatlinburg Real Estate Updates & Community News » gatlinburg cabin

Real Estate Market’s Ups & Downs Present Many Questions

lheraty — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:32:29 +0000

The real estate roller coster leaves many questions

Let’s face it, times are tough and on any given day the mood is a different one than the day before. The market’s up, then down, we’re in a recession, we’re recovering, it is hard to know what is really happening out there with so many mixed signals. Real estate is difficult to figure out, and remains relative to where you are. Is real estate improving? Sales are up, inventory is down but foreclosures are expected to keep coming, especially with unemployment figures on the rise. To find out if real estate in your area is improving talk to a real estate agent and look at the statistics that they provide. Each market has it's experts and in Gatlinburg you can find yours at Century 21 Four Seasons Realty. Have we hit bottom? Parts of the country have hit bottom other parts still have a way to fall. Home prices are apparently steady in parts of the country and climbing in others. In Sevier county where you'll find Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville, the fall of home prices has slowed and the number of sales has increased. This gives some professionals in our market the feeling that we are in for a persistent increase in the number of homes sold while the prices will start to increase modestly by the Summer and continue an incremental upward trend into next year. It's not a return to the lofty prices of a few years ago but a steady rate of appreciation will be welcomed by everyone. In a nutshell, real estate is relative. It is improving in many areas and as soon as our recovery includes job growth real estate is going to improve in many more areas. Click here for an article about real estate on Yahoo Finance.

Impressive October Real Estate Sales Show Signs of Recovery

lheraty — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:00:13 +0000

Real Estate data indicates that the overall housing market is slowly improving

Price declines are getting smaller, sales volume is getting larger and the overall real estate market appears to be mending. October sales were up for pre-existing home sales, 23.5% up compared with October of 2008. Homes sales for October were predicted to be 5.70 million, but the sales volume turned out to be 6.1 million.

Encouraging words are being spoken about real estate by NAR’s chief economist who stated that, “Existing home sales have already bottomed. Home prices are almost there. We are seeing less of a decline in house values.”

Approximately one third of home sales in October were made by first time home buyers taking advantage of the first time home buyer tax credit. The median home price fell 7.1%, still affected by distressed properties which accounted for 30% of October’s home sales .

In addition, inventory of homes for sale has dropped slightly, indicating that the housing market is indeed recovering slowly. Tax incentives, low mortgage rates and decreasing home values continue to make their mark, helping real estate sales to increase. The housing market’s recovery will hopefully seep into the minds of consumers, giving a bit of peace and spurring on recovery in other sectors.

Click here for a Yahoo Real Estate article about real estate sales.

Short Sales = Saving Grace?

broadway — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:46:24 +0000

Short sales are not the best way to transfer property but lately it’s become the method of choice for some buyers and distressed sellers. Many of our customers are confused about short sales (we joking call them long sales in our office because a few banks can take weeks to make a decision) and shy away from them. I, however, feel short sales represent a much more attractive option for buyers and sellers. I’ll list a few reasons why I feel this way:

For rental properties, which is most of our market here, the homes are still furnished and have not been damaged by the removal of furniture, appliances and sometimes pool tables and hot tubs.
The rental stream has not been interrupted by the foreclosure process so future bookings still exist.
The seller doesn’t have a foreclosure to contend with on their credit.
Often the buyer gets the property at or below what the bank would later list it at. It’s true that banks do not want property…. they want money.

While it is unfortunate that some owners of property find themselves in a tough spot, I’m glad we can be there to help them stave off foreclosure with the tools that are made available.

An Amazing Time

broadway — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:14:04 +0000

It’s an amazing time to be in the real estate business. I know everyone bemoans the fact that sales are down but I just can’t help but be in awe of the deals some of our investors are getting. One, who shall remain nameless, says ‘It’s like a garage sale for the wealthy.’ It may sound callous but that attitude is pervasive with many of our cash buyers right now and even though they’re getting deals they are also helping distressed sellers and our local economy.