Knoxville, TN Housing Market
AI-powered market intelligence for the Knoxville, TN metro area.
PropertyIQ Scores
Knoxville, TN Market Analysis
Market Overview
Knoxville’s housing market shows mixed signals, with a PropertyIQ Score of 30 out of 100 indicating relatively soft conditions. The median home value is $367,915, which is $31,407 above the Tennessee average of $336,508. The rent index is $1,747, far above the state average of $1,122. Unemployment is 3.4%, slightly below the state average of 3.5%, and median household income is $69,734, about $2,637 above the state average of $67,097. These benchmarks suggest Knoxville has some economic stability, but housing momentum is the weak point.
The top score drivers behind the 30/100 score are home value momentum of 4.88% over 12 months, -0.52% over 3 months, median days on market of 57, and a 25.1% share of listings with a price cut. Year-over-year home value is -$4, essentially flat. This combination points to a market that has cooled from earlier price growth and is now more balanced, with buyers gaining leverage.
Overall, Knoxville sits in a moderate-to-weak position: the rental market is comparatively strong, but home price momentum has stalled and sellers are adjusting.
Key Trends
First, home value momentum is cooling. The 12-month momentum of 4.88% is positive, but the 3-month momentum of -0.52% and year-over-year change of -$4 show that recent price movement has turned slightly negative. Second, inventory and price cuts give buyers more power. There are 3,548 homes for sale, median days on market is 57, and 25.1% of listings have a price cut. These are signs of rising seller competition.
Third, the rental market is a bright spot. Knoxville’s rent index of $1,747 is $625 above the state average of $1,122, meaning achievable rents are significantly higher than the Tennessee norm. Fourth, there is an affordability gap: the median home value is $31,407 above the state average, while median household income is only $2,637 above the state average. Even with unemployment at 3.4%, slightly below the state average of 3.5%, local incomes are not keeping pace with higher housing costs, which may limit owner-occupant buying power.
Who Is This Market For
Knoxville may be a good fit for buy-and-hold rental investors. The rent index of $1,747 is well above the state average of $1,122, and the cooling sales market—25.1% of listings with price cuts and 57 median days on market—may allow investors to negotiate better purchase prices. However, with 3-month home value momentum at -0.52%, short-term flippers or buyers expecting quick appreciation are likely to face headwinds.
First-time buyers may find more room to negotiate, but the median home value of $367,915 is high relative to the median household income of $69,734, so affordability remains a challenge. Move-up buyers can benefit from the buyer-friendly environment and 3,548 homes for sale, but they may need to sell their existing home in a slower market. The lack of population growth data makes long-term demand harder to assess.
Outlook
Near-term, Knoxville is likely to stay flat to slightly soft. The 3-month home value momentum of -0.52% and year-over-year change of -$4 do not support rising prices. With 57 median days on market and 25.1% of listings seeing price cuts, buyers should retain negotiating leverage. Inventory of 3,548 homes adds to buyer choice. The strong rent index of $1,747 compared with the state average of $1,122 may sustain investor interest, but missing population growth data limits conclusions about future rental demand. Low unemployment of 3.4% provides some support, but the overall data justify the cautious 30/100 PropertyIQ Score.
AI-generated analysis based on current market data. Last updated August 20, 2026.
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Knoxville, TN market data
Knoxville, TN Housing Market Overview
Knoxville, TN's median home value is $368K, up 4.9% over the past year. Homes here sell in a median 57 days. Its PropertyIQ Score of 30 sits below the state average of 50, marking a market positioned to lag its state over the next three years.
Understanding the Knoxville, TN housing market requires looking beyond headline price figures. The PropertyIQ Score reads both sides of market strength: Zillow price momentum across 3- and 12-month windows, and Realtor.com flow signals — days on market and the share of listings with price cuts. Together they predict how this TN metro is set to perform relative to the rest of its state.
Southeastern markets benefit from manufacturing investment, logistics infrastructure, and relative affordability compared to national averages. The region's population growth — driven by both domestic migration and natural increase — supports sustained housing demand across metro and suburban areas. Within the Southeast, Knoxville, TN's PropertyIQ Score of 30 runs below the Southeast norm.
Tennessee's no-income-tax status and central location have fueled Nashville's rise as a corporate relocation destination, while Memphis and Knoxville offer more affordable alternatives with their own economic drivers.
For the Knoxville, TN market, PropertyIQ calculates a single score each month from four inputs: twelve-month Zillow home-value momentum, three-month Zillow home-value momentum, median days on market from Realtor.com, and the Realtor.com price-reduced share. The score is computed nationally across all metros and calibrated so 50 equals the state average. Across the validation history, metro markets in the top score band have outperformed their state by roughly 1.7 percentage points more per year than bottom-band markets. Momentum here has been positive, with home values up 4.9% over the past year.
View Knoxville, TN's complete market profile including historical price trends, score history, and AI-generated analysis. Compare this market against any other US metro to find the best opportunities for your investment strategy.
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ZIP codes in the Knoxville, TN metro area
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Market data through July 2026. Sourced from Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, U.S. Census Bureau, FRED, BLS, and BEA. Per-statistic source and date shown above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Knoxville, TN a good place to buy real estate in 2026?
PropertyIQ doesn't label markets simply good or bad. Instead, the PropertyIQ Score measures a market's demand momentum against its own state, where 50 marks the state average. Knoxville, TN currently scores 30, a weak-momentum reading that leaves it positioned to lag its state over the next three years. For buyers, cooling demand usually brings more inventory, longer sale times, and real leverage to negotiate on price. Backing that up, the median home value here is $368K, up 4.9% over the past year. So whether Knoxville, TN is right for you comes down to your goals: a rising-momentum market can favor long-term appreciation but offers less room to negotiate, while a cooling one hands buyers more leverage. Treat the score as a timing signal to weigh alongside your budget, holding period, and plans for the property, not a verdict on the market's quality.
What is the PropertyIQ Score for Knoxville, TN?
Knoxville, TN's PropertyIQ Score is 30, indicating weak momentum on a 1-to-99 scale. The score distills four transparent inputs into a single number: Zillow home-value momentum over the past 12 months, Zillow home-value momentum over the past 3 months, the median days homes spend on the market from Realtor.com, and the share of listings with a price cut, also from Realtor.com. Rising values and faster sales push the score up, while slow sales and frequent price cuts pull it down. The scale is calibrated so 50 equals the state average, meaning a score above 50 predicts the market will outperform its state over the next three years and a score below 50 predicts underperformance. PropertyIQ computes the score across every US market nationally, then recenters it against each state, so 30 places Knoxville, TN below its state benchmark.
Are home prices in Knoxville, TN rising or falling?
Home prices in Knoxville, TN are rising. Over the past year, the median home value increased 4.9%, reaching $368K. Over the latest three months, values slipped 0.5%, a sign near-term demand is softening. PropertyIQ derives these figures from Zillow's home-value index, which tracks the typical value across the market rather than only the homes that happened to sell, giving a steadier read than a raw median sale price. Both the 12-month and 3-month momentum readings feed directly into the PropertyIQ Score, so this price trend is one of the core signals behind Knoxville, TN's current score. Keep in mind that appreciation can vary widely by neighborhood and price tier across the metro area, so treat these figures as the market-wide baseline rather than a guarantee for any single property.
How quickly do homes sell in Knoxville, TN?
In Knoxville, TN, homes sell in a median of 57 days from listing to pending sale, based on Realtor.com market data. Median days on market is one of the clearest real-time reads on local demand: when homes move quickly, buyers are competing and sellers hold the advantage, while lengthening timelines signal cooling interest and more room to negotiate. Alongside sale speed, about 25% of active listings here have taken at least one price cut — a complementary demand gauge, since a rising share of reductions often precedes slower sales and softer prices. Both median days on market and the price-cut share feed directly into the PropertyIQ Score, where faster sales and fewer cuts push the score higher. As a general guide, medians under about 30 days indicate a brisk, competitive market, while medians well beyond 60 days point to buyers regaining leverage. Actual time on market still varies by price band, property type, and season, so treat the median as a market-wide baseline.
How current is this metro area data?
This Knoxville, TN market data is refreshed on a monthly cycle, with the latest figures current through July 2026. PropertyIQ ingests fresh data every month from a range of authoritative sources: home values and rents from Zillow, days on market and price-cut activity from Realtor.com, additional housing signals from Redfin, demographic and housing-stock data from the U.S. Census Bureau, mortgage and macroeconomic series from FRED, and employment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The PropertyIQ Score itself is recomputed every month once the new source data lands, so the score and its four underlying inputs always reflect the most recent complete reporting period rather than a static snapshot. Because official housing data is typically released with a short lag, the current-through date usually trails the present by a few weeks, which is normal across the industry and not a sign the data is out of date.