KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — One real estate expert said the usual spring selling season in Knoxville may be different this year after prices of homes shot up during a surge of out-of-state buyers arriving in the city late last year.
"January is usually a slow month in the housing market, but we saw a significant increase in closed units in January of this year compared to January of last year," said Suzy Trotta, a real estate expert who writes regularly about Knoxville's market.
She said it was another sign that prices would continue rising in the city. She also said active listings were down in Knoxville, increasing competition for houses and turning it into a seller's market. She said there are also issues with low inventory, causing issues for buyers.
She said in a healthy market, the number of homes up for sale in any given month should last for around six months. However, if there were no more houses listed she said it would take just around a month to sell all the homes listed on the market.
"That's not a healthy market, we are very much in a seller's market, shifted very favorable to sellers," she said.
She also went on to say people who sold their homes in Knoxville recently saw incredible profits. A two-bedroom home in the city could sell for a profit of around half what a person bought it for.
She said spring is when more homes are usually listed and demand in a housing market can be tempered, but she said problems are persisting for buyers. As soon as a house is listed, she said it is usually gone.
"We never slowed down this year very much, so I don't know what to expect from the spring selling season. I'm really hoping we have more people list their homes this year, try to get some more inventory, and rates are going up a little bit for buyers. But buyers are still out, and we still need homes to sell."