The Greater Chattanooga area showed another consistent month of increases in home sales in September, based on information being released this month from the Multiple Listing Service of the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors. Officials said that is great news for Chattanooga and the regional economy.
Most housing metrics should follow their usual, autumnal movements – higher inventory and days on market, fewer sales, lower prices. That applies only to month-to-month seasonal trends; most indicators should still show improvement on a year-over-year basis. All real estate is local – down to the city neighborhood, suburban development and rural area.
New listings in the Chattanooga region were up 11.7 percent to 877. Pending sales decreased 8.8 percent to 393. Inventory shrank 11.7 percent to 4,920 units. Prices turned higher as the Median Sales Price was up 1.5 percent to $139,100. Days on Market decreased 14.0 percent to 123 days. Month’s Supply of Inventory was down 22.0 percent to 9.2 months, indicating that demand increased relative to supply.
Sluggish job growth, persistently high gas prices, drought-induced spikes in food prices and other global events could threaten consumer confidence. In response to these concerns, The Fed's mortgage purchases drove Freddie Mac's average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage survey to an all-time low of 3.40 percent and the jobs numbers out last week showed unemployment at 7.8% nationally; the lowest rate since January 2009.
GCAR President Mark Hite said, “Employment growth remains critical, providing the very jobs that
will stimulate housing demand and higher prices as well as alleviate beleaguered homeowners.”