Home sales tileThe Chattanooga Association of Realtors said Tuesday that local home sales totaled 664 units in August, down 1.3 percent from the previous year.
The local decline was similar to a 1.8 percent drop in home sales nationwide during August, according to National Association of Realtors data.
But with fewer new listings coming on the Chattanooga market, the inventory of homes available for sale by local Realtors shrank 2.4 percent to 5,234 units while the median price of homes sold in the Chattanooga area rose 3.2 percent last month to $148,000.
"With the announcement of Volkswagen's expansion, the promise of jobs breeds potential for continued economic growth," said Robert Nodes, a spokesman for the Chattanooga Association of Realtors. "This is a great sign for first-time homebuyers, who can still take advantage of low interest rates through local lenders."
Market rents lower in city
The fair market rental rate for a two-bedroom home was priced more than 30 percent below the national median in Chattanooga this year, according to a study released Tuesday by the Center for Housing Policy.
In its 2014 rankings for metropolitan area rental rates, Chattanooga was the lowest-priced metro area in Tennessee. Among the 209 metro areas in the U.S., Chattanooga was the 15th lowest in the average rental rate for a two-bedroom apartment.
Using U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development data, the housing center said the typical two-bedroom home rents for $679 a month in Chattanooga, well below the U.S. median among all metro areas of $984 per month. By comparison, the fair market rent for a similar home was $774 in Knoxville, $780 a month in Memphis and $851 in Nashville.