Johnson City-area home construction on rapid pace in 2024

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Tim Hicks, a homebuilder since the 1980s and current Tennessee State Representative, remembers well the last time new homes were being built at their current pace: never.

“According to interest rates and according to inflation, we are in the middle or probably at the end of a slowdown, and we have more building permits this year at this time than we had last year,” Hicks told News Channel 11 Wednesday.

“So what kind of a slowdown is that for Northeast Tennessee and Washington County? It’s not much of one, in my opinion.”

Combined new single-family home starts in unincorporated Washington County, Johnson City and Jonesborough are at 556 through August — and that’s with several large developments still waiting in the wings. That’s up nearly 40% from 2023, when there were 407 at this point, and almost 20% higher than 2022’s 474.

The historically high numbers, including 109 new starts in August alone, are part of a trend Hicks said he doesn’t see ending anytime soon. U.S. Census data show Northeast Tennessee’s estimated population grew by 12,682 from July 2021 through July 2023. That two-year boomlet represented more growth than the entire decade of 2010 to 2020, and Washington County continued to lead the way in growth that is outpacing the national rate by more than two times.

“I’ve been in this business a long time,” Hicks said. “You’re always waiting for the next big slowdown, trying to anticipate that.”

With national home starts in a lull — they reached a four-year low recently — Hicks isn’t sure the current soft market will have much impact on what’s been happening in the Tri-Cities area.

Hicks chalked the continued growth up to what he and others have been attributing it to since a noticeable shift began about four years ago.

“I think that people have heard and have found out about our great area and there’s just a lot of growth going here,” he said.

Jonesborough, Johnson City and unincorporated Washington County all appear on pace for record housing construction this year.

Washington County has had 242 permits pulled in eight months, with a total value of more than $94 million and an average of $389,658. That’s 25% more permits than last year’s pace, with an average value $9,500 higher. In 2022, the county’s average new permit value was $304,634.

Johnson City’s 190 permits are 39% higher than last year’s total of 137 through this date. The total value of $53.6 million averages out to $281,987 and is pulled lower by the fact that a good number of the new starts have been attached townhomes. Last year’s average value was $330,1175 in Johnson City.

Jonesborough has seen the highest percentage increase in permits, with a 63% jump from 76 in 2023 to 124 in 2024. The total value of $28.1 million averages out to $226,903. Overall, the 556 permits represented an estimated value of more than $175 million.

Johnson City has also approved permits for several large apartment complexes, including a $29.3 million, 152-unit combination of permits for the “Universal at Mountainview” just beginning construction in north Johnson City.

Hicks said he hopes to be part of a state and local leadership group that tries to ensure development is done sensitively and infrastructure keeps pace. He admitted that as “a small town guy,” there’s a part of him that doesn’t like to see so much new development.

“I hate to see it change, but when the growth comes like this, you can’t put it on a back burner,” he said. “It’s something that I talk about and work on a lot.”

Hicks said people may who have been here for generations need to realize “we can’t build a wall around Northeast Tennessee,” but he added they also deserve the most consideration.

“That’s the people that I’m concerned about …we have a lot of room to grow in northeast Tennessee. It’s just how we go about that, how cities and counties plan that growth. I think it is extremely important to make it go into areas where we can handle the growth.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.