Chattanooga home sales take a dip

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Chattanooga Realtors sold 8.9 percent fewer homes in the first four months of 2014 than they did a year ago, although the median price of those homes that did sell was up by 7.7 percent.

The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors said Friday that local Realtors sold 2,030 properties from January through April 2014. In the same period last year, local Realtors closed sales on 2,229 properties.

But the median sales price of homes sold this year rose by $10,000 from last year to an average of $140,000 in the first four months of the year. The median price is the price at which 50 percent of the homes sold for more and 50 percent sold for less.

In its monthly commentary, the Realtors association said sales were hurt by the 5.2 percent decline in new listings that tightened the inventory of Chattanooga-area homes on the market. In April, GCAR had 5,159 homes for sale in its Multiple Listing Service.

With mortgage rates down in each of the past four weeks and the local jobless rate at a six-year low, GCAR said sales should be up this summer.

"Don't confuse temporary weak demand indicators for stagnation," the monthly report concludes.