MARKET PULSE: New home prices up 20.6%, sales flat
Don Fenley
June 22, 2026
| Tri-Cities’ new home market didn’t grow in size in May; it grew in price. The median price for a new construction home was $387,932 That’s up 20.6% from last year. The average price rose 17.9% to $423,326. Both gains are large for a region where sales volume did not change. There were 86 sales last month. The same as May last year, according to the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors. Here’s how the new home market compares to the all-sales market. The median price for all home sales ($300,000) was up 4.8% and sales were 1.3% better than this time last year. Part of the new home price gain came from larger homes. Buyers paid more for the space itself, not just for more of it. The median new home sold was 1,864 square feet. That’s 115 square feet more than a year earlier. The median price per square foot rose 11.4% to $204.96 from $183.99. Builders did not need to discount to close sales. New homes sold for 99.4% of their list price, nearly the same as a year ago. The sharpest change came at the lower end of the market. In May 2025, one in five new homes sold for less than $250,000. Last month, only 6% did. Over the same period, homes priced at $500,000 and up grew from 13% of sales to 20%. The shift lifted the typical sale price and reduced choices for first-time buyers. New homes sold slightly faster than last year. The median time on market was 118 days, down from 123 last year. New homes are routinely on the market longer than resale homes because builders often list a home before it is finished. Johnson City led the region with 29 new home sales, more than a third of the total. Greeneville and Jonesborough tied for second with 11 sales each. Bluff City and Kingsport rounded out the busiest markets. The most current metro-level reports on single-family new home building permits show a slight slump in the Johnson City market and an increase in Kingsport-Bristol. During the first four months of the year, there were 284 Johnson City metro permits, down from 310 last year. The Kingsport-Bristol total this year is 278 permits, up from 221 last year. New home prices across the Tri-Cities rose sharply over the past year while the number of sales stayed flat, according to NETAR Multiple Listing Service data. Builders and agents closed 86 new-construction sales in May 2026. That matched the 86 sales recorded in May 2025. The market did not grow in size. It grew in price. The median new home sold for $387,932 in May 2026. That is up 20.6% from $321,725 a year earlier. The average sale price rose 17.9% to $423,326. Both gains are large for a region where sales volume did not change. Market at a glance |
| May 2026 | May 2025 | |
| Sales | 86 | 86 |
| Median price | $387,932 | $321,728 |
| Avg. price | $423,326 | $359,075 |
| Sold-to-list ratio | 99.4% | 99.6% |
| Median finished sq. ft. | 1,864 | 1,749 |
| Median sq. ft price | $204.96 | $183.99 |
| Median days on market | 118 | 123 |
NETAR is the voice for real estate in Northeast Tennessee. It is the largest trade association in the Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia region, representing over 1,800+ members and 100+ business partners involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. Weekly market reports and information for both consumers and members are available on the NETAR website at https://netar.us