Johnson City and Kingsport both kept climbing — median sale prices up 9.9% and 19.9% year-over-year, to $329,782 and $308,796 — while Bristol held roughly flat around $261,000, still the most affordable of the three core markets. Homes are selling faster in Johnson City (41 days) than in Kingsport (58 days) or Bristol (50 days). Data from Redfin's local market pages; the read below is mine.
A note on this month's source
Longtime readers of this report will notice a change: this issue is built on Redfin's public market data rather than the NETAR/Fenley figures used in earlier reports. Don Fenley's CoreData analysis, which broke out price cuts and buyer concessions by small Tri-Cities town, hasn't published a new post since mid-August — so rather than run stale numbers, I'm shifting this report to Redfin's city-level data, which updates monthly and covers median price, days on market, and sale-to-list ratio for Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol. It's a different lens than the price-cut/concession data Fenley tracked, but it's current, and I'll keep an eye out for a comparable local source if one picks up where CoreData left off.
What August's numbers mean
The two largest Tri-Cities markets are pulling in the same direction, just at different speeds. Johnson City's median sale price is up 9.9% year-over-year to $329,782, with homes moving in a brisk 41 days on average — two days faster than a year ago, despite 14.5% fewer homes changing hands in August. That combination (rising price, faster sales, lower volume) usually points to tighter inventory rather than cooling demand.
Kingsport's move is sharper: a 19.9% year-over-year jump to $308,796, though it's taking six days longer to sell than a year ago (58 days vs. 52) and sales volume is actually up 24.8%. More homes are changing hands there, at meaningfully higher prices, just with a bit more patience required to close.
Bristol is the outlier, holding close to flat (roughly $261,000, down slightly year-over-year on a single-month basis). For buyers priced out of Johnson City or Kingsport's recent run-up, Bristol remains the value play in the region — and a market where a VA or USDA buyer's offer is less likely to be competing against six others.
The numbers at a glance
| Market | Median Sale Price | YoY Change | Median Days on Market | Sale-to-List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson City | $329,782 | +9.9% | 41 days | 98.0% |
| Kingsport | $308,796 | +19.9% | 58 days | 97.6% |
| Bristol | ~$261,000 | -7.0% | 50 days | 98.1% |
Source: Redfin, Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol housing market pages, accessed September 22, 2026. Johnson City and Kingsport figures reflect the three months ending August 2026; Bristol's median and day-on-market figures reflect Redfin's most recently published three-month window, with the single-month August price noted separately where available. Figures are Redfin's own calculations from MLS and public records, deemed reliable but not guaranteed, and subject to revision. Commentary mine.
How competitive is each market?
Redfin scores each market's competitiveness on a 0–100 scale. Johnson City is the hottest of the three at 66 ("somewhat competitive") — the average home there sells about 2% below list price in around 41 days, and Redfin's "hot homes" (the fastest-moving tier) go pending in about 19 days. Bristol sits at 59, and Kingsport at 49, both also "somewhat competitive" but with more room for a buyer to negotiate and less urgency to waive contingencies than in Johnson City.
None of the three is in true seller's-market territory (that would be a score well above 70, with frequent bidding wars), which matters for VA buyers in particular: a market where 18–21% of homes sell above list, rather than 40%+, is one where a well-structured VA offer is far less likely to lose out to an all-cash buyer waiving an appraisal.
What this means if you're buying or selling
If you're selling in Johnson City or Kingsport, the data supports pricing with some confidence — both markets are absorbing price growth without a slowdown in demand. If you're buying, Bristol remains the place to stretch a fixed budget further, and none of the three markets is so hot that a well-qualified buyer with a strong pre-approval should feel locked out.
Curious what these numbers mean for your own budget, in your specific target neighborhood? That's a free call, and the earlier we run the numbers, the more runway you have before you're competing for a specific house.
For agents
Use any of these figures with your buyers and sellers however helps. If you'd like the monthly read as it comes out, here's how I work with agents.