RuCo home sales soar on The Murfreesboro Post

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RuCo home sales soar

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By: MELINDA HUDGINS, mhudgins@murfreesboropost.com

Posted: Sunday, April 17, 2011 7:01 am

RuCo home sales soar | Business, Housing, Economy

This house, located at 531 Savannah Ridge Drive, is one of many on the market in Rutherford County. It's owner hopes it is the next to be sold in the county's recovering housing market. (Photo by Phairabe Estes-Simpson)

Rutherford County experienced a surge in home sales last month, newly released data shows.

According to the Multiple Listing Service, approximately 259 homes were sold in March compared to only 152 in February – an increase of 70 percent.

Nearby, home sales in Williamson County jumped 63 percent from 150 to 245 during the same period, while Davidson County home sales crept up 30 percent from 329 to 427.

The number of pending sales was also up in each of the three counties – Williamson at 291, Rutherford at 297 and Davidson pended 574.

"I'm sure there was some penned up demand from a very depressing winter season, but we are all thrilled to see the improvement despite all the issues that continue to handicap the housing market," said Steven Dotson, president of Rutherford County-based Red Realty.

He pointed out several issues that he's seeing with the market right now.

"Mortgage financing is still very tight – too tight in my opinion. We let it get too loose in 2006, and now we are too tight," Dotson said. "It will eventually get corrected, but we could speed that process up a little.

"Appraisal issues are not helping. All the new regulations are killing appraisals, financing and closing. Again, the government has tightened regulations too much. Surely there is a happy medium."

Dotson went on to say that foreclosures continue to prove problematic to the housing market.

"We have to get foreclosures processed and to the final home owner. The foreclosure deals are not as good as they were last year, so that is a good sign that our pricing is holding steady," he said. "The big banks still have large backlogs of foreclosures that will take time to process, but pricing is holding."

Average closed prices in Rutherford and Davidson Counties during the month of March were only down by 2 percent, followed by Williamson County, which saw average prices fall 4 percent.

That said, Dotson says the gap between new and existing home prices have to narrow.

"Most markets can handle new homes being a little higher than existing homes, but the gap is too wide for homebuilders to get cranked up," he said. "We need the inventories to continue to decrease so that the gap will shrink and allow homebuilders to get back to work to help balance out the recovery of our economy. New home construction is a big missing piece in our local economy's circle."

Even with all these factors, Dotson said the increase in home sales is good news.

"We were all holding our breath, hoping spring would bring improved numbers, so now we can breathe easy and keep busy with wall the spring traffic," he said.

Tagged under Business, Economy, Housing

Member Opinions:

By: bota on 4/17/11
This article seems to point out that the surge is in existing home sales and that is a good thing. So far the connection fee rate cut given to builders by the W&S Dept. has not stimulated new construction and that was predictable. Also predictable will be the lack of news coverage tracking this ill advised move by the City Council.