The Tri-Cities unemployment rate dropped to 8.7% in July. But unlike the national labor market that created 1.8 million jobs, there were no local nonfarm job gains.  Employers slashed 1… Read More

Tri-Cities homeowners scrambling for refinancing loans dominated the local market during the second quarter. It was the third-straight quarter (nine months) local refi loan originations outn… Read More

Although data is not available, the local new home market appears to be having one of the best years it has had in a decade. Buyers rushing to the new-home market have surged sales to the hi… Read More

Tri-Cities home sales were up 11% for the 12-months ending on Aug. 11. That’s a point better than the 12 months ending in July. At the same time, the 12-month sales data trend shows th… Read More

So far this year, the only Tri-Cities commercial real estate (CRE) constant is inconsistency. While some of that’s normal during an election year, COVID-19 turned the world upside down… Read More

It’s a given that Covid-19 is hammering Tri-Cities businesses, the local economy, and many of its residents. To what extent is a guessing game in many – if not most – cases… Read More

The number of equity-rich Tri-Cities homeowners and those that were seriously underwater mortgages didn’t change much from the previous two quarters. The share of equity rich propertie… Read More

The Tri-Cities economy is on the cusp of another economic shock. This one focuses on the federal $600 a week add-on to state unemployment checks that expired on June 30. There will be a repl… Read More

Tri-Cities all-cash home sales declined during the second quarter, but the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical (MSA) market share is still higher than the state and national levels. Kingsp… Read More

The Tri-Cities economy added 4,300 jobs in June, and the unemployment rate dropped to 9.1%. On the surface, that sounds like good news.  But it’s only a small part of the story. T… Read More

Existing-home sales in the $200,000 and below price range are still the staple in the Northeast Tennessee housing market. But when you look at sales on an annual basis, there have been some… Read More

Washington and Sullivan are among the Tennessee’s counties with housing markets most vulnerable to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. But’s Tennessee’s most vulnerable… Read More

Unlike its residential cousin, commercial real estate (CRE) isn’t seeing an early and robust rebound from the initial economic Covid-19 pandemic shock. Total transactions for the first… Read More

The affordable housing status of Sullivan and Washington counties continued degrading during Q2, according to Attom Data Solution’s Home Affordability Report. Both counties’ affo… Read More

The Tri-Cities economy began clawing back April’s massive job losses in May. It added about 2,100 nonfarm jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 9.6%, according to preliminary non-s… Read More

Tri-Cities commercial real estate (CRE) transactions continued laboring with the economic fallout of COVIX-19 in May. The short-term numbers are about what you would expect. May sales were d… Read More

The Tri-Cities labor market fell into a CORVID-19 blackhole in April. The region’s March-April job lost was over 18,000 jobs. Compared to April last year it was down 20,100. That&rsquo&hell…Read More

The gap between home purchase and refinancing loan originations narrowed in the four-county Kingsport-Bristol Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) during Q1. But not by much. Refi loans accou… Read More

Tri-Cities existing homes sales were up 13.9% during the 12 months ending in mid-May when compared to the same period last year. That’s a silver-lining trend view for housing while COV… Read More

ATTOM Data Solution’s Q1 Home Equity & Underwater Report illustrates how the Tri-Cities housing market is evolving. During the first quarter of this year, there were 90,827 mortgag… Read More

Tri-Cities commercial real estate sales dropped to their lowest monthly level this year during April, while leases saw a slight increase, according to the Northeast Tennessee Association of… Read More

Some of the chaos in the mortgage marketplace is easing, and a couple of local shops are reporting some record-level months. At the same time, the number of closings on residential resales w… Read More

Seller returns on resales were going gangbusters during the first three months of this year. The typical home-seller profit represented a 33.7% return on investment compared to the original… Read More

During the region’s run of setting new sales and price records, the effect of the recovery from the Great Recession was felt most in the smaller city markets when it comes to an annual… Read More

There’s no argument that real estate in the Tri-Cities is slogging its way through the first phases of the coronavirus pandemic. Real estate professionals have quickly rewritten the bo… Read More

Newly released Tri-Cities employment data show the seven-county region had 400 more jobs than February, and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.1% in March. But neither the Bureau of Labor St… Read More

The coronavirus pandemic is posing a bigger commercial real estate challenge than what we see in the residential market. The primary reason is commercial real estate is driven by cash flow… Read More

The local new home industry is trying to take the fall-out from the coronavirus pandemic in stride. New home construction is ongoing when the weather permits. The industry received an essent… Read More

There were 6,419 new claims for unemployment in Northeast Tennessee this week. That’s a 35.3% increase for the previous week. During the two weeks that the Coronavirus pandemic began t… Read More

There are almost 90,000 mortgaged properties in the Tri-Cities counties of Sullivan, Washington, Carter, Greene, Hawkins, Johnson, Unicoi and Washington Co. Va. Of those 15,082 (16.8%) are u… Read More

Commercial Real Estate transactions during Q1 this year were down 18.5% from last year, according to a quarterly report from the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors (NETAR) Commercia… Read More

Sullivan and Washington are among the counties ranked less vulnerable to the economic impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. Sullivan ranked 303, and Washington ranked 304 out of the 483 counti… Read More

Labor market trend numbers for the Tri-Cities labor market are showing softening even before the COVID-19 gut punch that will begin showing up in the April reports. The annual revision of th… Read More

Mortgage rates are continuing their nosedive, and the lending industry is ‘tightening up.” The April 2 average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 3.33% and could be hea… Read More

Most of the homes on the market in Sullivan and Washington counties are beyond the reach of average wage earners, according to ATTOM Data Solution’s Q1 Housing Affordability Report. Lo… Read More

The Tri-Cities took another baby step toward population growth in 2019, according to the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates. But, as in past years, while the Tri-Cities took baby ste… Read More

Rock-bottom mortgage rates enticed Tri-Cities homeowners to flock toward refinancing during the last three quarter of 2019, according to ATTOM Data Solution’s Q4 Mortgage Origination R… Read More

A surge in Tri-Cities refi loan originations may not bode well for the long-term existing home sales market. Driven by record-low mortgage rate, refi loan originations were 78.5% higher in t… Read More

The jobs adjustment from December’s preliminary number wasn’t good news for the Tri-Cities. And – like the national labor picture – things are going to get worse. Feb… Read More

Rental returns on Sullivan and Washington County single-family homes decreased during the first quarter of this year. The situation was the same in more than half of the 389 counties tracked… Read More

It wasn’t the best year. But it wasn’t the worst. When you look at the data, 2019 was an OK year for the Tri-Cities Commercial Real Estate (CRE). Sales, leases, and new building… Read More

The local housing market’s economic stress points look pretty good, according to CoreLogic’s latest report. December’s 30-days or more mortgage delinquency rate for the Kin… Read More

Northeast Tennessee’s state sales tax collections closed 2019 with a 5.2% increase over last year with the Knoxville MSA claiming the lion’s share of the increase. Results for th… Read More

Here’s a quick housing market reality check compliments of Attom Data Solutions year-end 2019 Home Flipping Report. For every new home permit issued in Hawkins Co. there were more than… Read More

How low will they go? Mortgage rates continue falling and are creating a lot of activity in the real estate sector. At the current 3.29% rate, a $300,000 loan from just a year ago refinanced… Read More

Tri-Cities new home permits increased by 3% last year. That seems like a low number considering the momentum in that sector. And from a data-tracking perspective, the number is low. But it d… Read More

Pre-foreclosures in Sullivan and Washington counties are at a two-year high. But that’s not the gem in Attom Data Solution’s Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report that&rs&hell…Read More

The Morristown Metropolitan Statistical Area had the best year-over-year home price increases in East Tennessee, according to the Federal Housing Finance Administrations Q4 Home Price Index… Read More

The current 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate of 3.45% is nearing the Nov. 2012 all-time low of 3.31%. Rates have been below 4% for a year, and while they are easing the local affordable hous… Read More

State sales tax collections increased in nine of Tennessee’s MSA in November. The exception was Kingsport-Bristol, according to the most current Tennessee Advisory Commission on Interg… Read More

There are several ways to look at the Tri-Cities retail real estate landscape. And they are as much about the evolution of retail as they are about the brick and mortar inventory. 1 –… Read More

Child-care is a hot-button du jour topic in the regionalism, population growth, economic development communities. It’s not hard to understand why. The tab in our area can be more than… Read More

A little more than one of every four mortgaged homes in the Tri-Cities was equity rich in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to Attom Data Solutions. At the same time, a little more than… Read More

The Tri-Cities labor market ended 2019 with more nonfarm jobs than it had in 2008 – the year before the Great Recession hit the local economy. The gain was almost 1,900 jobs from the p… Read More

Tri-Cities area home sellers felt richer last year, according to Attom Data Solutions 2019 Year-End Home Sales Report.  They pocketed record dollar profits and sellers in the Kingsport… Read More

Many Tri-Cities homeowners ushered in the New Year feeling a little bit better about their economic place in life. That’s because 2019 was a banner year for both existing home sales. I… Read More

By DON FENLEY There were 103 sales of commercial real estate properties listed on the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors (NETAR) Commercial Multiple Listing Service (CMLS) in 2019… Read More

The number of properties with foreclosure filings in the Johnson City, Kingsport-Bristol, and Greeneville metro areas dropped to a 13-year low in 2019. There were 708 Tri-Cities area default… Read More

Tri-Cities commercial real estate lease transactions closed out 2019 with the best performance since 2016.  The type property that saw the most activity was shopping center parcels, but… Read More

By DON FENLEY Buying a three-bedroom home is still more affordable than renting in most Tri-Cities area counties, according to Attom Data Solution’s 2020 Rental Affordability Report. A… Read More

Data used to calculate Attom Data Solutions’ Q4 Home Affordability Index (HPI) in Sullivan and Washington counties has another story to tell. It paints a picture of both the fluctuatio… Read More

By DON FENLEY November’s Tri-Cities’ labor market report was a continuation of what is building to be one of the best years since the recession. The local economy added a little… Read More

By DON FENLEY The good news is an average wage earner in Sullivan and Washington counties has the buying power to purchase a median-priced home. That means both counties are ranked as afford… Read More

Despite what you may have read elsewhere, home-flipping has not gone off the tracks in the Tri-Cities region. In fact, it has increased in two of the local counties in Attom Data Solutions&r&hell…Read More

One segment of the Tri-Cities housing market that doesn’t get much attention is the very top of the market. But housing for the folks living large in the Tri-Cities is on the upswing… Read More

Builder confidence, market momentum stronger than permit numbers indicate The Tri-Cities is the only area in the region that saw an increase in the new residential permits during the third q… Read More

Demographics – especially the natural population status – is something on the mind of most government and civic leaders. The reason is simple. The U.S. population is rapidly agin… Read More

Annualized wages increased during the first half of this year in the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) while volitivity in Kingsport-Bristol MSA federal sector had the opposit… Read More

The Tri-Cities housing market dropped from being the leaders of the pack in the Federal Housing Finance Administration’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI) in the second quarter to the low… Read More

Tri-Cities business grow had its best year in a decade in 2017, according to the Census Bureau’s most current Business Patterns Report. That’s good news. It’s an annual ave… Read More

There were 550 more nonfarm jobs in October than in September, and there were 1,397 move people employed.  The seven-county region’s unemployment rate of 3.3% was unchanged from S… Read More

Thirty some years ago, a group of Tri-Cities area businesspeople was looking for a way to present their region in a way that would enhance how their marketplace was described. They were intr… Read More

It hasn’t been that long ago when the first words a Realtor would hear from a prospective buyer were, “what kind of foreclosures deals are out there?” Fast forward to today… Read More

October’s foreclosure activity in the Tri-Cities region was flat when compared to September and October last year. That portion of the local housing market has reverted to pre-recessio… Read More

At the same time alarm bells are going off about subprime car loans and delinquency rates there was some good news out of the Tri-Cities housing sector. The number of homeowners with underwa… Read More

The Tri-Cities is veteran rich area.  According to the most current Census estimates there are a little more than 39,400 vets living the seven-county region. That’s a 9.5% share o… Read More

The Tri-Cities labor market has moved beyond the seasonal slump now that schools are back in session. Employers continue adding non-farm jobs, and employment is higher without signs of slow… Read More

Consistent reports have shown that the Tri-Cities region’s housing market is still strong. Here’s another one that may raise some eyebrows. Kingsport-Bristol homeowners who sold… Read More

Tri-Cities all-cash home sales have slowed, but still command a dominant place in a market where home prices and rents are increasing faster than wages and housing is becoming less affordabl… Read More

Here’s a housing market conundrum for you? Statistically, Sullivan and Washington counties are affordable housing markets. There’s no question about that. The folks at Attom Data… Read More

Tri-Cities metro areas turned in some strong seasonally adjusted retail sales tax collections numbers in August. The three-county Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) comprising… Read More

Kingsport-Bristol’s housing market earned some bragging rights in the Middle Tennessee State University’s Q2 housing market report. The four-county region that makes up the upper… Read More

The Census Bureau’s latest report had some good and some not-so-good news for the Tri-Cities.  A quick first pass on the 2018 American Community Survey 1-year estimates show a con… Read More

The sale of flipped homes in five Tri-Cities counties hit a five-year high during the first half of this year according to a compilation from Attom Data Solutions home flipping reports. At t… Read More

Some civic and government types looked a lot like deer caught in the headlights during ETSU’s session on regionalism earlier this month. Hearing the CEO of the region’s largest i… Read More

July was another lackluster month for Tri-Cities retail sales tax collection. Kingsport-Bristol collections have lagged the four-county area’s 2018 market share benchmark every month t… Read More

Permits for high-end homes were up by four during the first half of this year, and for the first time in three years, Sullivan County led other Tri-Cities counties. The Market Edge classes h… Read More

Sometimes real estate market cycles produce weird results. The first half of 2019 is a local example. Tri-Cities new home permits were only 2% better than the first half of last year. Normal… Read More

The Tri-Cities jobs market is plowing its way through seasonal slowdowns with a steady momentum toward making 2019 the year it officially recovers from the Great Recession. June, July, and A… Read More

About this time next month, we’ll get our first looks at the Census Bureau’s 2018 data. Unfolding of the 2018 1-year American Community Survey Reports and subsequent reports will… Read More

The number of Sullivan and Washington investor-owned single-family and townhome properties has declined for the third straight year, and the vacancy rate has increased. That gauge of the loc… Read More

Tri-Cities area properties with foreclosure filings dropped to a three-year low during the first half of 2019. Attom Data Solution’s Midyear U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows 370 pr… Read More

The folks at Attom Data Solutions have added a new twist to “how what you home is near affects its value.” Think specialty food stores.  And in a rapidly aging population li… Read More

The Johnson City metro area had the third-best year-over-year sales tax collections in Tennessee in June while Kingsport-Bristol’s month-over-month collections were the best in the sta… Read More

By DON FENLEY Kingsport new home permits down 60% for first of half of 2019 Permit pulls for new single-family homes in Kingsport were down 60.9% compared to the first six months of last yea… Read More

Pending home sales indices for the Tri-Cities region and the nation are back to close proximity. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) Index was 108.3% in June up 1.6% from June last ye… Read More

The Tri-Cities labor market slipped into its seasonal summer slump in June still flexing its slow-growth muscles. June’s report holds some critical clues to not only the progress and d… Read More

Cash home buyers maintained a strong position during the second quarter, but institutional investors have all but retreated from the seven-county area Tri-Cities area. At the same time, ther… Read More

Looking at the Tri-Cities region as a single marketplace is the only way to have a handle of the local economic big picture. But there’s also benefit into a deep dive into the differen… Read More

The number of entrepreneurs is increasing in the Tri-Cities. So are their gross receipts. According to the Census Bureau’s latest count, there were 31,009 nonemployer businesses in the… Read More