Chattanooga home prices rose by twice the overall rate of inflation in the past year but remained nearly 30 percent cheaper than the U.S. average and below most other metropolitan cities in the Mid-South, according to a new report by the National Association of Realtors.
The median sales price of the single-family homes sold through the Greater Chattanooga Realtors multiple listing service this spring rose 5.8 percent from a year ago to $188,600. The increase was more than double the average 2.9 percent increase in income, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Rising home prices
The median price of houses sold by Realtors during the second quarter of 2018 outpaced the 2.9 percent general inflation rate in the past year in all in major cities in the Mid-South.* Nashville, $263,200, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier* Atlanta, $228,800 up 11.7 percent from a year earlier* Birmingham, Alabama, $214,800, up 4.2 percent from a year earlier* Huntsville, Alabama, $196,200, up 10.8 percent from a year earlier* Knoxville, $190,100, up 6.6 percent from a year earlier* Memphis, $189,100, up 10.3 percent* Chattanooga, $188,600, up 5.8 percent from a year earlier* U.S. average, $269,000, up 5.3 percent from a year earlierSource: National Association of Realtors
Home prices are rising as the inventory of houses on the market continues to shrink with more people moving into Chattanooga than the number of new homes being built.
“We have one of the lowest inventory of homes on the market that I can ever remember, and that means there are more buyers competing for each home on the market,” said Geoff Ramey, a Re-Max Properties agent who is president of the Greater Chattanooga Realtors association. “We used to have 7,000 or so single-family homes on the market and now we only have about 2,600 or so.”