Chattanooga home sales dropped by more than 14% in the first eight months of 2023 as higher mortgage rates lowered residential real estate activity to the lowest level since 2019, according to sales figures by the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors.
But with housing inventory still limited in some areas, home prices remained elevated with a median home price last month in Chattanooga at $330,000, or 10% higher than a year ago. The median price of homes sold in August was the second-highest monthly price ever in Chattanooga, topped only by the $339,950 median price reached in June.
“For August, higher mortgage rates, along with elevated sales prices and a lack of housing inventory, continued to impact market activity during the summer home buying season,” Steven Sharpe, a managing broker for Keller Williams and president of the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors, said in a report on August sales.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has remained above 6.5% since May, recently hitting a two-decade high in August of 7.09%, according to Freddie Mac. As a result, Sharpe said existing-home sales have continued to slow with the number of closed sales in August down 15.1% from the same month a year ago in Chattanooga. In the first eight months of the year, Chattanooga Realtors sold 6,888 homes, down from 8,010 in the same period of 2022.
The average home in Chattanooga sold last month in 30 days. A year ago, the typical home sold in only 16 days, Sharpe said.