Homeowners accepted an all-time high of 1,083 offers for single-family and condo sales in May. That’s a 9.9 percent increase from April and 23.2 percent higher than May last year. 

Pending sales are a leading indicator of housing activity based on signed contracts for existing single-family homes, condominiums, and townhome resales in the region monitored by the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors (NETAR) Home Sales Report. Since resales go under contract 30 to 60 days before the sale is closed, pending sales typically lead existing-home sales by about two months.  

“Last month’s pending sales set up June and July as record months for closings,” NETAR President Kristi Bailey said.” New listings have made slight increases for the past two months and outnumber May’s pending sales. The overall inventory picture is still very tight. Still, increased listings are giving buyers more choices as the market moves into the summer season. June and July are typically the top months for completed sales, she added.  

There were 1,048 active listings at the end of May. That’s 50 more than April.  

Balanced market conditions are five to six months of inventory. It has been 1.3 months for the past three months in the region NETAR monitors. “That’s stabilization on the region level,” Bailey added, “but there were days when some of the city markets’ real-time active listings dropped into the double digits.” 

The average listing price last month was $338,082, up 23.3 percent from last year, and the average sales price was $232,772, up 27.8 percent.  The market’s middle point, as measured by the median listing and sales prices, is also higher but presents a more conservative market picture than the averages. May’s median listing price was $217,950, up 9 percent from last year. The median sales price was $190,000, up 18.9 percent from last year. 

May’s median listing price was $217,950, up 9 percent from last year. The median sales price was $190,000, up 18.9 percent from last year.