MTSU Business Center Reports

Reports conducted by MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, covering emerging trends in both housing and employment.

Every quarter Middle Tennessee State University publishes the Tennessee Housing Market report. It offers an overview of the state’s economy as it relates to the housing market. It includes data on employment, housing construction, real estate transactions and mortgages, home sales and prices, delinquencies, and foreclosures.

In recent months, the BERC has created an interactive website for readers to view the data. The most recent of its quarterly reports are posted below.

  • Tennessee Housing Market: 2nd Quarter 2024

    [September 2024] Seven of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment rate, rental vacancy rate, single-family home permits) show positive economic outcomes. In the second quarter of 2024, Tennessee showed stability in the housing market compared to the previous quarter, while the national market showed some softening. However, Tennessee shows some softening in the housing market when compared to the previous year. For the rental market, Tennessee showed a sharp increase in rental vacancies compared to the previous quarter, potentially indicating a burgeoning oversupply or softening in demand. However, the rental vacanies are still lower than they were the previous year. This quarter may represent emerging challenges in Tennessee’s housing market. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 1st Quarter 2024

    [August 2024] Six of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment claims, mortgages past due, etc.) show positive economic outcomes. In the first quarter of 2024, Tennessee’s economy displayed a mixture of growth and challenges. Employment saw a yearly increase of 2% while the labor force grew by 1.86%. Despite this, the goods-producing and manufacturing sectors faced slight annual declines. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 4th Quarter 2023

    [March 2024] Six of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment claims, mortgages past due, etc.) show positive economic outcomes. The unemployment rate slightly declined compared to a year previous, but weekly unemployment claims surged substantially in Q4, presenting a mixed picture for employment. In addition, home permits and total home permits increased substantially compared to the previous year; however, vacancy rates in both homeowner and rental units increased. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 3rd Quarter 2023

    [December 2023] Eight of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment claims, mortgages past due, etc.) show positive economic outcomes. Unemployment claims and rates decreased from the previous quarter, and home permits and total home permits increased further. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 2nd Quarter 2023

    [September 2023] Five of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment claims, mortgages past due, etc.) show positive economic outcomes. Both single-family home permits and total home permits increased, but weekly unemployment claims and homeowner vacancy rates increased. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 1st Quarter 2023

    [July 2023] Six of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment claims, mortgages past due, etc.) show positive economic outcomes. While foreclosure rates fell and homeowner vacancy rates declined since last quarter, the unemployment rate increased, as did the rental vacancy rate. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 4rd Quarter 2022

    [March 2023] Seven of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment claims, mortgages past due, etc.) show positive economic outcomes. However, single-family home permits and total home permits have fallen even further since last quarter. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 3rd Quarter 2022

    [December 2022] Seven of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment claims, mortgages past due, etc.) show positive economic outcomes. However, foreclosure rates and vacancy rates have risen since last quarter and single-family home permits and total home permits have fallen. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 2nd Quarter 2022

    [September 2022] Eight of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment claims, mortgages past due, etc.) show positive economic outcomes in the midst of the pandemic. However, foreclosure rates and vacancy rates have risen since last quarter and single-family home permits and total home permits have fallen. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 1st Quarter 2022

    [July 2022] Ten of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment claims, home permits, etc.) show positive economic outcomes in the midst of the pandemic. However, foreclosure rates and vacancy rates have risen since last quarter . For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 4th Quarter 2021

    [March 2022] Ten of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment claims, home prices, etc.) show positive economic outcomes in the midst of the pandemic. However, the number of housing permits continues to fall. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 3rd Quarter 2021

    [December 2021] Eight of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment claims, home prices, etc.) show positive economic outcomes in the midst of the pandemic and two show a neither positive nor negative outcome. However, the number of housing permits has fallen. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 2nd Quarter 2021

    [September 2021] Ten of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment claims, building permits, home prices, etc.) show positive economic outcomes in the midst of the pandemic. Weekly unemployment claims have fallen almost 80% and mortgage delinquency has fallen as well. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 1st Quarter 2021

    [June 2021] Nine of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report show positive economic outcomes in the midst of the pandemic. However, mortgage delinquency continues to rise over the prior year, though weekly unemployment claims are falling as well. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 4th Quarter 2020

    [March 2021] Eight of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report show positive economic outcomes in the midst of the pandemic. However, unemployment and mortgage delinquency continue to reflect substantial increases over the prior year. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 3rd Quarter 2020

    [December 2020] Eight of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report show positive economic outcomes in the midst of the pandemic. However, unemployment and mortgage delinquency still reflect substantial increases over the prior year. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

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  • Tennessee Housing Market: 2nd Quarter 2020

    [September 2020] Six of the 12 quarterly indicators used in this report (unemployment claims, building permits, home prices, etc.) show adverse economic outcomes in the midst of the pandemic. However, home prices, building permits, and mortgage transfer tax collections all displayed substantial increases from the prior quarter. For information and graphics on the aforementioned indicators, as well as information on mortgage performance, home prices, and real estate tax collections, click the above link to view the full report.

  • Tennessee Housing Market: 1st Quarter 2020

    [June 2020] As stated in the introduction, with regards to Covid-19, “this report represents the calm before the storm.” Ten of the 12 economic indicators used in this report show positive results for Tennessee’s economy, with the glaring exception being unemployment claims, which began to skyrocket mid-March. Otherwise, indicators like mortgage and real estate transfer tax collections were more than 30 percent higher during Q1 of 2020 than they had been during Q1 of 2019. The economic ramifications of Covid-19 will begin to be reflected in earnest in the Q2 2020 report.

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