July home sales continued to improve, showing more activation of pent-up demand in the East Tennessee market. Despite a slow start to the year, 2025 sales to date are now up nearly 3% over the same period in 2024.

Some of this movement is likely thanks to slightly lowered interest rates, as the market responds to national news around monetary policy. Affordability improved in July, even before August rates dropped again.

As we write this, the current 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 6.52% is the lowest it has been in 2025. Despite these rate changes being historically small by comparison to recent years (the low in 2024 was 6.08%), the attention on mortgage rates has made the market increasingly responsive.

Notably, price growth has also slowed, with July's median home price of $374,900 the same as July 2024. Continued demand and growth in East Tennessee puts upward pressure on prices even in the slower season, keeping the market steady despite listings remaining on market longer.

The East Tennessee REALTORS® released the 2025 State of Housing report, an annual high-level analysis of housing, economic data and trends intended to help REALTORS®, industry stakeholders, and policymakers better understand what to expect and navigate the evolving market. We dive into takeaways below.