How does that compare to sales in the local market?

The Bush dollar hits $1.60 against the Euro. Heck of a job with that "strong dollar" policy.

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

I have been told the Knoxville Metro area is usually a little different (better) than the nation due to the types of employment, e.g. government, healthcare, education. I do not know if the statement was true or if it holds true right now.

From the National Association of Realtors news release:

South:
Existing-home sales fell 3.5 percent in March and are 20.0 percent below March 2007. The median price in the South was $167,200, down 7.1 percent from a year ago.

Midwest:
Existing-home sales in the Midwest dropped 6.5 percent in March, and are 15.9 percent below a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $152,600, down 5.3 percent from March 2007.

The problem with lumping together the South is that one of the worst housing markets in the country is Florida. There was an insane amount of speculation that went on there, and prices are falling commensurately faster. When you add in Atlanta, which is nowhere near as bad as Florida, but worse than most other places in the South, they have to be skewing the percentages. My guess is that prices decreases in most of the South are closer to the 5%-ish you see in the Midwest.

On the other hand, Tennessee seems to have a whopping big number of foreclosures. The sub-prime lenders must have had a field day here, because I don't think you can blame it on speculation. Anyway, our decrease is probably higher.