Tennessee’s housing market continued to perform well in the third quarter of 2016, according to the latest statewide quarterly report from the MTSU Business and Economic Research Center.

BERC Director Murat Arik pointed to historically low unemployment claims and mortgage delinquency rates at some of the lowest levels in over a decade as key factors.

“Overall, indicators depict a strong financial foundation in the state,” Arik noted. “The housing market is performing considerably well.”

Dr. Murat Arik

Other good signs were low rental vacancy rates and increased multi-family construction permits during the quarter. Meanwhile, housing prices increased by half a percentage point more for the state than for the nation.

Additionally, Nashville MSA housing prices increased by 9 percent over the year — nearly 3 percentage points higher than the state and 3.5 percentage points higher than the country.

Other report highlights include:

• Over the year, Tennessee housing permits outperformed the South and the U.S.
• The Memphis area’s housing inventory decreased by 18 percent over the year.
• Mortgage delinquency rates are down overall for Tennessee.

BERC’s report is funded by Tennessee Housing Development Agency to provide regular metrics on the state’s housing market. See the full report with detailed breakdowns and summaries at http://mtsu.edu/berc/housing.php.

Under contract with THDA, BERC releases the “Tennessee Housing Market” report each quarter. The 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)