There was a great article in the Kingsport Times News on November 26 pertaining to the housing market in the Tri-Cities. Kiplinger's magazine identified the Johnson City metro area (Washington, Carter, and Unicoi counties as one of six (6) "Safe Havens in Real Estate."

A few days later another index showed the Kingsport - Bristol metro ranking 14th best out of 291 areas nationwide for year-to-year home price appreciation through September 30, at 3.93 percent. To put this in perspective, nationwide figures released by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight showed, prices declined by 6 percent over the same period.

While we have felt the crunch it has not been nearly as bad in this area as other parts of the country. I liked a quote in the article, by Bill Greer an economics professor at Milligan College, "That is not to say it is strong or perfect by any means, but I do think we continue to enjoy a degree of insulation from the national economy."

"The Tri-Cities, A Great Place To Be!"