RED REPORT – 2nd Quarter 2019

Middle TN Home/Condo Sales Report 2nd Quarter 2019 Issue.

The Red Forecast

Hello Spring and Summer Season!! The 2nd Quarter sales activity did not disappoint and actually made up for a slower 1st quarter than we’ve seen the last few years. I hope you are enjoying the quarterly format. It allows usto see seasonal trends and the bigger picture much easier than dissecting the market in detail each month. We will continue to share numbers monthly, but this Quarterly report, in my opinion, is a better way to study the market seasonally. As long as I’ve tracked home sales(20+ years), home sales activity has followed the seasons more than any other factor, so that tends to be the way I study the activity/trends to determine what is ahead.

Several others predicted a strong Spring making up for lost ground in the first quarter, and they were correct.Closings started off behind by 3% compared to last year and are now 1% ahead. My guess is 2019 salesvolumes will continue to be fairly close to 2018. I would expect prices to continue to increase as new construction volumes increase and become a higher percentage of the overall home sales. Builders need to make a certain margin to stay in business and with developed lot cost rising quickly, final home prices will need to increase as well. The first quarter saw a 3% increase in prices from last year while the second quarter saw a 7% increase.

I hope everyone had a safe July 4th weekend. We are blessed to be in a great country and Middle Tennessee with great local governments who are business friendly and want to create a great quality of life. We aren’t perfect, but as I travel, it is clear that we have so much to be thankful for and I always love coming back home.

Thank you,

Steven Dotson
President