Northeast Tennessee home sales increased 11% in July, and the average sales price was up 7.5%. There were 818 resale closings in July, 81 more than July last year. The average sales price of $202,074 was a $13,822 improvement over last year.

Townhome/condominium resales were down 4.6% from last year. There were 62 closings last month, and the average sales price was $142,628, up 3.9 percent from July last year.

“As predicted, our prime buying and selling season shifted to the summer. Both sales and prices are posting some record numbers,” said Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors (NETAR) President Kristi Bailey. “and sellers accepted a record number of new contracts last month. The only thing holding the market back is lack of inventory.”

The 11-county region monitored by NETAR’s Trends Report had 2.5 months of inventory in July. Five months is the minimum for balanced estate market conditions. The number of active listing was down 42 percent from July last year.

“Homes spent less time on the market in July than they have during any other month since 2008,” Bailey said. “The average single-family resale that closed last month was on the market for 98 days. The average time on market for a townhome/condo resale was 62 days, and those are averages. Half of all closings were on the market 57 or fewer days.”

Bailey said, “This is one of the best markets for sellers that local real estate professionals can remember. The average listing price is beginning to push the $300,000 mark. It is up 13.4 percent from July last year. Sales in the $200,000 and below price range still account for the lion’s share of the market.”

NETAR’s Trends Report reflects housing market conditions in Carter, Greene, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties in NE Tenn. and Scott, Lee, Wise, and Washington counties in SW Virginia. It also includes market data from the region’s primary city markets.