State of the Market Activity Report

The Knox County real estate market continues to show strong signs of growth in 2006. Many areas locally are already surpassing previous statistics compared to the same months in 2005 and the tone of the market is quite healthy. Affordable home values continue to drive our housing market and this segment currently accounts for nearly 30% of our activity and sales.

First time buyers have never had more opportunity than they have today. There are so many specialty loan programs engineered for moderate to low income families that offer buyers an opportunity to purchase with little or no zero money down. Years ago not having a down payment saved was a massive barrier when trying to purchase a home but this is no longer the case. Today with the new 80/20 and streamlined mortgages have opened up the doors to homeownership wider and faster than ever before.

The move up buyer is the largest segment of our local housing market today. Move up transactions are existing homeowners who are selling their current homes and replacing them with either new homes or larger more expensive homes. The move up buyers account for more than 40% of all market activity and based on sales in January and February this market is showing signs of growing by potentially 10% in 2006. There are many logical reasons why this market is expanding so quickly but the biggest reason is due to the growing number of new homes being built. Mount Vernon, Apple Valley, Fredericktown and Centerburg are each seeing a jump in the number of new homes being built and it doesn’t look like there are any slowing signs in sight. Apple Valley continues to lead the Knox County in new home starts per year and this is partially due to the low cost of entry and lot acquisition cost.

When you consider that the average residential sales price in Knox County for a home that sold between January 1, 2006 through February 21, 2006 was only $122,629 it’s very easy to see why our Knox County real estate market is so active. The value and quality of a home you can buy in Knox County is remarkable compared to other larger markets such as Columbus, New Albany, Granville, Newark, Delaware and other Columbus suburbs and this is another driving force. When you combine affordable housing, streamlined financing with no downpayment options and a community that offers superior quality of life with desirable small town amenities you have the makings of a very attractive real estate market.

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