Chattanooga-area home sales drop

Saturday, May 21, 2011

• Market results: Chattanooga Realtors sold 484 single-family houses in April and 1,802 homes during the first four months of the year.

• Sales trend: Residential sales were down 4.9 percent from March and 21.9 percent below a year ago.

• Median prices: The median price, or midpoint of all sales prices, was $119,500 in April in the Chattanooga area, down 4.4 percent from a year ago.

• Average sales time: The typical home sold in April was on the market 136 days, up from 134 days a year ago.

• Foreclosure impact: Last month, 151 houses, or 31.2 percent of all Realtor sales, involved foreclosed properties.

• Why the change: Last year's sales were inflated by homebuyer tax credits, which expired in mid-2010. "We knew at the time that the credit was boosting our sales figures, and now we're able to quantify just how much," Chattanooga Association of Realtors President Jennifer Grayson said.