The Tri-Cities housing market exhibited continued modest strength in April, characterized by rising prices and an increase in consumer demand. The demand increase is not reflecting in the sales comparison to April last year. They were down 5% and prices were up 5%.

The four-month market trend is similar to April year-over-year performance. Sales are down 5.2% while prices are up 7.5%.

The trends performance divergence reflects a patchy recovery that’s a continuance of a growth surge in the urban hubs’ neighbors. Sales gains in secondary markets. like Bluff City, Blountville, and Erwin suggest buyers are expanding their search radius. All but three of the regions’ submarkets have positive price growth trends.

The year-to-date sales hot spots are Bluff City, Blountville, Telford, Piney Flats, and Roan Mountain. All five have double digit growth. Only 10 of the region’s 21 markets monitored by the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors (NETAR) have a four-month positive sales growth rate.

While Kingsport, Johnson City, Jonesborough, Greeneville, and Elizabethton have accounted for most sales so far this year, their year-to-date growth rates are another matter. All are in negative territory when compared to the same period last year.

Kingsport, which has led market sales growth since last year, had the biggest deficit. It was down  21.6%

While the overall market trend is upward, the divergence in local market performance reflects a patchy recovery that’s influenced by inventory levels, pricing, and localized demand dynamics. For example, much of the Twin City’s price ranges were at balanced conditions in mid-May. That inventory balance was for all the price ranges from $300K to $799,999K.