GRAY, Tenn. – Tri-Cities home sales declined for the first time in a decade last year. But the living large in the Tri trend still has legs. 

Here’s a brief look back and update on high-end resales in the $800,000 and up price range. 

2019 – 27 

2020 – 36 

2021 – 131 

2022 – 152 

Resales in the $1 million plus range reinforce the trend. 

2020 – 16 

2021 – 62 

2022 – 67 

Another interesting factoid about the $1 million plus resales is 41% of them were cash deals. Sellers dropped their asking price by an average of $48,389 to lock in those cash sales. The total sales volume on these million-dollar babies was almost $96 million. 

Resales are not the only living large indicator. According to The Market Edge, high-end new home permits in the Tri-Cities region had almost doubled by the end of last year’s third quarter. It should be noted that The Market Edge defines a high-end home permit as 4,000 or more sq. ft. or $400,000 or most construction costs. Here’s the background on those permits in the Tri-Cities region. 

2020 – 91 

2021 – 129 

2022 – 210 

Most of the Market Edge high-enders are in Washington Co. (94), followed by Sullivan (49), then Greene Co. (29). 

Another indicator is NETAR’s data on resales of $500,000 plus resales last year. There were 766 of them, up 21.6% from the previous year. 

One driver of this trend is the obvious value factor. A $500,000 or $1 million home in the Tri-Cities area is a lot more home than something comparable in neighboring metro areas. 

A noticeable slowing of high-end sales in the fourth quarter corresponds to the overall market activity. Active listings and new listings were also down. But compared to the 2021 inventory, it looks pretty good for high-enders. At the end of the year, the Johnson City region led the Tri-Cities with five months of inventory of high-enders. It had 23 $1 million plus listing. The total in the $800,000 and up price band is 47.