Twenty years ago, on June 1, 1999, the Knox County Register of Deeds went to a paperless recording system, meaning that we no longer print books. During this period we have recorded over 8.2 million pages of paper. This would have generated more than 6,800 additional books, a quantity greater than the entire collection of deed books produced up until this point! The citizens of Knox County are the real beneficiaries from this transition, saving millions of dollars in the production and storage of such books over the past 20 years.
As for the current activity, the week of Memorial Day showed some slowing activity, which is to be expected of a shortened holiday week. There were 243 property transfers recorded totaling right at $70 million. The largest transfer of the week was a commercial deal in which Bike Place I General Partnership sold property near Forks of the River to SummerStone Knoxville, LLC for $7.07 million.
Lending was down slightly from the week before as well with $93 million being borrowed against real estate. The largest financing transaction was for $14 million between Dominion Development Group LLC and Bank of Tennessee on property that Dominion owns at the corner of Sevier Avenue and Davenport Road.
In summary, for the month ending Friday, May 31, 2019, there were 1,285 property transfers totaling $437.2 million. This represents an 11 percent increase over the month of April and comes in just shy of May 2018 transfers.
Continuing the trend in mortgage activity for the year, this is the fourth month in a row with a steady increase in lending. In May, $499.7 million was borrowed against real estate, surpassing both the $353 million from April and the $393.2 million in lending from last year. If May has been any indicator of what is to come, we can hope to see increasing trends in the Register’s office throughout the rest of spring and summer.
Nick McBride, Knox County Register of Deeds, provides a weekly transfer report for KnoxTNToday readers.