In May 2021, Rutherford County's real estate market took a downturn in Listings Contracted, down -8.96% from last May, but keep in mind that's when we saw the pent-up contracts from RuCo's COVID shutdown make a huge comeback with a +31.95% increase. Listings Closed were down -6.14% from last May while Inventory remains down at -57.26%, just slightly better than the record low we saw two months ago. This month's big news is in Median List Price, now up +26.18%. Read on for an in-depth look at the local real estate market data.

Listings Contracted, while down from last May, did climb month-to-month. Listings Contracted were slightly up +1.48% from April, but remember we did see a +18.37% increase year-over-year in April. Listings Closed, up +9.36% YOY in April, are now back down -6.14%. The Inventory shortage once again remained significant, taking another big dip down -57.26% from last May, just slightly better than the March 2021 record low of -57.97% down. So, the Inventory outlook for would-be buyers that showed a slight improvement of +9.63% in April, has now flipped back down -6.63% month-over-month. Magnifying the Inventory shortage is what we call "paper listings," meaning listings that are not truly ready for buyers to move in. Usually these are new construction homes or lots ready for construction to begin with a completion date in the future, which is where many buyers are still having success finding their new homes. Right now in Rutherford County 41% of all the active listing inventory are "paper listings." Digging just a little deeper you'll see that in the mid-range to "executive" home price ranges that problem is even more prominent, with 67% of $351-400K homes being "paper listings," 94% in the $501-550K price range, and 100% of homes in the $551-600K price range.

Supply seems to be stabilizing right at the record lows we've been experiencing across most price ranges. The only big movement we're seeing is in the $700K+ luxury market, caused by an influx of million dollar homes in the past month, coupled with a handful of multi-million dollar listings that are still sitting around after a few months on the market. Still, all but the $700K+ price range has less than a month's Supply, which we'd never seen before in Rutherford County until the end of April.

Mortgage interest rates are holding steady at 2.99% (30-Yr FRM), just slightly up from last month's reported average of 2.96% (30-Yr FRM). All signs point to a slow incline in rates as we enter into the second half of the year, with most experts projecting rates to slip up into the low to mid 3% range by Q4. So, the great interest rates we're seeing now continue to make comparative "Purchasing Power" strong, especially when you look at where we're headed with the continuation in home price increases and rising mortgage interest rates likely on the verge of aligning to creep up slowly in unison.

It's no secret, we're now in prime real estate season! So whether you are a buyer looking to find your new home in this very difficult market, or a seller looking to take advantage of the current feeding frenzy, you stand the best chance of success with the LOCAL market experts at John Jones Real Estate on your side of the transaction. Give us a call at 615-867-3020.