End-of-January inventory data from news and research company ResiClub Pro points to some market advantage developing in Greene Co. It’s keyed to an analysis of active listings and months of supply as a home price momentum tracker and dovetails with other reports that show a local slow march toward more balanced conditions.

At the end of January, U.S. active inventory was up 24.6% over January 2024, according to ResiClub. While that’s still 25.3% fewer U.S. homes for sale as than there were at the 2019, the pre-pandemic baseline, “the rise suggests that, nationally, the market has softened over the past year as buyers aren’t purchases as quickly as before.”

Relationships like this between current conditions and pre-pandemic conditions will get more attention this year. This is especially true for inventory levels because they are key drivers of how quickly homes sell and an assessment of price momentum. And in this case, the local market movement parallels the U.S. market.

Greene Co. has the region’s best January year-over-year inventory growth, up 69.9%. That’s 13.7% fewer homes for sales than there were at the pre-pandemic benchmark, according to Realtor.com data. It’s still a seller’s market, but the inventory increase suggests a more buyer-friendly market. Combined with data from the TCI inventory and Annualized Sales Tracker, it shows the market is moving toward balanced conditions in some critical price tiers.

All but one of the local counties had more inventory in the January-January comparison. The exception is Unicoi. Given that counties recovery struggles from Hurricane Helene, that’s understandable.

The typical regional January year-over-year growth rates are in the mid-40% range.

 Inventories have been improving across the region and picked up during the last half of 2024 when sales decline toward the pre-pandemic level accelerated.

Realtor Property Resource (RPR) listed these 12-month active listings gains and average days on market at the end-of-year.

Bristol, TN – up 12.8%, 26 days

Bristol, VA – up 9.1%, 41 days

Greeneville – up 12.7%, 30 days

Johnson City – up 2.3%, 21 days

Kingsport, up 1.4%, 23 days

Currently, the region has the best inventory it has seen since 2020. It’s a much-needed shot in the arm for an unhealthy market that has struggled with record high prices and record low inventory since the pandemic housing boom.

Many of the U.S. softest markets were among the top pandemic boomtowns, where significant home price stretched housing prices beyond local income levels. While that Tri-Cities matches that assessment market conditions have not softened as much as some of the highlighted markets.  

ResiClub reports that the forecasts it tracks the average firm expects U.S. active inventory to increase 12.5% this year.