In the month of January, the greater Chattanooga area saw a huge increase to Closed Sales, increasing an astounding 34% from last year’s mark, finishing at 457 residential units. New Listings in the Chattanooga region were down 3.6 percent to 960. Inventory shrank 10.3 percent to 4,499 units.
Prices rallied higher as the Median Sales Price was up 4.0 percent to $130,000. Days on Market decreased 14.0 percent to 117 days, the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year declines. Month’s Supply of Inventory was down 22.3 percent to 8.0 months, indicating that demand increased relative to supply.
Officials said, "As we take our first gentle steps into the first year of predicted housing market improvement in many years, let's look at why we're feeling bullish. Affordability is high; coupled with historically low interest rates; people are ready to lay their money down. Inventory is generally down, creating more competition among those searching for homes.
"Desire plus demand has created more frequent tickles of price rising just as foreclosures and short sales are selling through the market, becoming less of a drag on those prices. The residential real estate recovery is tentative and fragile, but it's still a recovery."
GCAR President Mark Blazek said, “It's important to watch the economy, since job growth directly fuels home purchases and since the housing industry generates jobs. The economy has added about 6.1 million jobs over the past 35 months, a sluggish but encouraging trend. Interest rates are slowly moving higher in some regions, though the affordability picture remains extremely attractive.”