Marc Gravitt, the Hamilton County Register of Deeds, announced the Register’s Office set monthly records this past December in collections and document recordings, as well as shattering the yearly calendar record in 2021.
Mr. Gravitt said, “The state mandated Conveyance Tax and Mortgage Tax collections for the month of December, totaled $3,465,491.65, breaking the previous monthly high of $2,889,555.12 set this past June.
“The total amount of the two taxes collected for calendar year 2021 was $26,919,769.39, eclipsing the previous record from 2020 which was $18,816,704.17, that is over a 43 percent increase. The new record was collected on more than $7.4 billion in mortgages, and over $4.9 billion in real estate conveyance (sale) amounts, for Hamilton County real estate."
The Conveyance and Mortgage Taxes are both mandated by Tennessee Code Annotated, that every county Register in Tennessee is required to collect. Each month the Register’s Office remits payment to the Tennessee Department of Revenue, with 2.4 percent commission being retained by the Register’s Office. Mr. Gravitt said, “For calendar year 2021, our office retained $646,074.47, which is used for staff salaries or operations.
"Last year there was a substantial increase in the sale of apartment complexes, which are large dollar deals. That, plus the continued high demand for both commercial and residential real estate and low interest rates, Hamilton County’s real estate market continues to be strong, which benefits all of Hamilton County."
Additionally, the office recorded 81,286 documents for the year which is almost a 13 percent increase from last year.