Tag: housing
-
Kingsport: Steady in a Shifting Market
Every month, new housing reports arrive with a blizzard of numbers—sales up here, prices down there, percentages that can make your head spin. But when you sift through the data, one story consistently stands out: Kingsport remains the region’s steady hand. According to the latest September 2025 report from the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors…
-
Kingsport Checks So Many Boxes
One of the questions I’m asked most often is, “Why Kingsport?” Many newcomers are drawn to the mountain vistas of Northeast Tennessee. Most are “escaping” a place that, for one reason or another, no longer feels like home. Yesterday, I met a couple from Colorado Springs—a city I’ve always considered idyllic. The grass is always…
-
Kingsport: The Family-Friendly City Hiding in Plain Sight
Every year, national magazines unveil another list of “The Best Cities for Young Families.” The latest lineup from House Beautiful features Queen Creek, Arizona; Bozeman, Montana; Littleton, New Hampshire; Plano, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; Carmel, Indiana; Greenville, South Carolina; and Cary, North Carolina. They’re all described as affordable, family-friendly communities with good schools, growing economies, and…
-
Northeast Tennessee: Three Ways to Read the Tri-Cities Market
The housing market across Northeast Tennessee shows a layered pattern of activity when you look at both overall sales and sales per capita. Over the past 30 days, Kingsport, Johnson City, and the Bristol twin cities clearly dominate the region in total homes sold, reflecting their size, employment bases, and regional influence. Kingsport leads with…
-
Kingsport Is Older—But Its Newcomers Are Changing That
Kingsport has long been considered one of Tennessee’s older cities, and the top-line numbers still say so. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 population estimates, the city’s median age sits in the mid-40s—several years higher than the statewide median age of about 39 and well above many of Tennessee’s faster-growing suburban markets. Yet if…
-
Closer, Smaller, Stronger
MOVE TO KINGSPORT MONTHLY REPORT This September brought 47 newcomer families from outside the region, down from 57 last September. They came from 22 states instead of 27, and the daily pace eased from about 3.0 families per workday to 2.35. On paper that looks like a clear step down, but the price mix tells…
-
Kingsport, Johnson City Leading, but the Real Story Is Affordability
The August 2025 sales report of the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors shows Kingsport posted 124 closings and Johnson City 116—roughly 39% of all regional sales. That concentration tells you where buyers are most active. Bristol (TN+VA) 57, Greeneville 48, Jonesborough 43, Elizabethton 40—accounts for most of the remaining action, while the rest of the…
-
Appalachian Poverty: Bad Data, Good Intentions
Recently, we published an article titled “Safer by Design, Not by Statistics” that shows why Tennessee’s crime rate isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison with other places—and how it’s often misused to suggest we’re less safe than we really are. You can read it at KingsportSpirit.com. Another misleading statistic is the poverty rate. Appalachia is “poorer” than…
-
If You Can’t Sell There, You Can’t Move Here: August 2025 in Context
Move To Kingsport Monthly Report Month-to-month. August 2025 ran cooler than last August. We recorded 49 new families from 19 states, down from 63 families and 26 states in August 2024. The daily pace eased from 2.9 to 2.3 families per workday. Prices also cooled: $305,000 median and $149/SF this August versus $317,005 and $155/SF…
-
Why Are Homes & Apartments So Expensive?
I’m a lifelong student of city management, planning, history, demographics, and socioeconomics. Honestly, sometimes I wish I wasn’t—it can be exhausting. I can’t just “turn it off.” I still have a folder filled with maps of fictitious cities that I drew in middle school. I spent more time naming streets, designing parks, and placing schools…
Kingsport Spirit 