Home prices across the state continued to rise in the second quarter, according the latest quarterly housing report from the MTSU Business and Economic Research Center.

Dr. Murat Arik

Tennessee home prices increased 8 percent year over year, BERC Director Murat Arik noted. The increase in home prices remains above the national average, which has fluctuated around 6.5 percent over the past two years.

Significant areas of year-over-year increase include Nashville at 9.7 percent, Clarksville at 9.7 percent, and Cleveland at 8.1 percent. Meanwhile, home sales also increased in all three regions of the state.

Arik also noted the state’s low jobless rate and workforce stability as contributing factors in the state having its lowest foreclosure rate in 18 years.

Other report highlights:

• Both single-family home permits and total home permits “bounced back from their short dive last quarter,” Arik noted. Single-family home permits increased by 6.7 percent, while total home permits increased by 2.4 percent.

• The most significant improvement from last quarter was a near doubling of Tennessee’s multi-family building permits, leading to an 18.1 percent jump in total building permits. That compared to a 7 percent increase for the entire South and 3.5 percent drop for the United States overall.

• For home sales, the most significant improvements in quarterly growth were in the Jackson MSA, from 0.6 percent to 4.8 percent, and the Clarksville MSA, from 6.1 percent to 9.7 percent.

• Conversely, Johnson City and Morristown MSAs experienced a significant drop from their double-digit growth last quarter, Johnson City from 10.2 percent to 3.1 percent and Morristown from 11.1 percent to 2.9 percent.

This chart from the second quarter housing report by MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center shows year-over-year increases in housing prices across the state. (Courtesy of the Business and Economic Research Center)

See the full current and previous reports with detailed breakdowns and summaries by going to http://mtsu.edu/berc/housing.php and clicking the appropriate links.

BERC’s report is funded by Tennessee Housing Development Agency. The quarterly report offers an overview of the state’s economy as it relates to the housing market and includes data on employment, housing construction, rental vacancy rates, real estate transactions and mortgages, home sales and prices, delinquencies and foreclosures.

The Business and Economic Research Center operates under the Jennings A. Jones College of Business at MTSU. For more information, visit http://mtsu.edu/berc.

THDA publishes research on affordable housing, its programs and beneficiaries. THDA also coordinates state planning for housing through the Consolidated Planning process, annual Action Plans, and annual Performance Reports. See http://thda.org/research-planning/research-planning for more information.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)