Home prices in Tennessee continued rising in the fourth quarter of 2018 while construction permits were down from the previous quarter, the latest quarterly housing report from the MTSU Business and Economic Research Center finds.

But total permits were up year-over-year and overall trends indicate “a stable economy,” noted BERC Director Murat Arik, author of the report.

Full current and previous reports

Other report highlights:

• Home prices increased across all Metropolitan Statistical Areas, or MSAs, tracked by this report, with prices up 7.4 percent statewide. The most significant housing price changes were in the Jackson and Clarksville MSAs with increases of 10.5 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively.

• Home closings were up and inventories down in Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis from the previous quarter.

• Single-family, multifamily and total permits all declined from the previous quarter, while year-over-year comparisons showed increases in multifamily and total permits (31 percent and 4 percent, respectively) and a decrease in single-family (5.5 percent).

• Tennessee’s foreclosure and mortgage delinquency rates were low compared to those before, during and following the recession.

BERC’s report is funded by Tennessee Housing Development Agency, or THDA. 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/.