Home sales in four Middle Tennessee counties improved last month, according to a report released by Red Realty last week.
Rutherford, Williamson, Davidson and Wilson counties all experienced an increase in sales from April to May, after a slow start earlier in the year.
“Summertime is here, and buyer activity seems to be picking up,” Red Realty president Steven Dotson said.
“I feel a lot better about real estate market than I did earlier this year. This past winter was the lowest six-month stretch in the real estate business since the 1960s.”
Closings in Rutherford County were up 11 percent, when compared to the same time last month, as was Davidson County. Williamson led with a 46 percent increase, followed by a 23 percent increase in sales in Wilson County.
Locally, home sales decreased 23 percent year over year.
“I try not to look at year-to-date numbers too much because 2011 doesn’t have the tax rebates/incentives that last year had,” Dotson continued. “It’s good to see these improvements.”
One positive sign is the decrease in inventory, he added.
Rutherford County’s inventory dropped 8 percent from May 2010 to May 2011.
“With inventories improving, there is some room for new construction, but I would be careful because there are only a few subdivisions that are doing well,” he explained. “There are pockets that are doing very well, and there are pockets that are doing terribly.”
According to MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, building permits issued for single-family home construction in Tennessee rose 4.8 percent in the first quarter from a very low level in the previous quarter.
“Overall, single-family permits have changed little during the past three quarters, suggesting a modest degree of stability,” BERC’s Tennessee Housing Market brief states. “Monthly figures show that single-family permits have been stable to slightly increasing since late summer of 2010.”
The housing market showed marginal improvement during the first quarter, with housing construction stable and home sales up from the previous quarter.
“What’s missing is a boost from firmer housing prices, and the data for the first quarter offer little evidence that rising prices will soon occur,” the report states. MP |
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