October home sales decline in Chattanooga

Monday, November 21, 2011

October home sales were down from the pace this summer and fell below year-ago levels, the Chattanooga Association of Realtors said today.

Local Realtors sold 419 houses last moth, or 5.4 percent fewer than in September and 5.3 percent below a year ago.

Jennifer Grayson, president of the Chattanooga Association of Realtors, said this year's sales were still generally in line with expectations since home sales were inflated a year ago because of the Homebuyer's tax credit.

"When I looked at the data from the middle of the past decade, it showed exactly what I expected to see: that the unusual bulge in sales was during the overheated housing boom, and current figures are very consistent with past October history", she said.

For the month of October the local median home price was $128,500. That represents a decrease of 3 percent from the same period one year earlier and a drop of 13.3 percent from the median price reported in September.