PDF: Median home prices in metro areas
Chattanooga home sales in the fourth quarter of 2009 were up nearly 20 percent over a year ago, but local home prices continued to decline during the period, according real estate reports released Thursday.
In the final three months of last year, Chattanooga area Realtors sold 1,527 homes, up from the 1,275 units sold in the same period in 2008. But the median price of the existing homes sold during that period was 2.5 percent below a year ago.
“It’s probably safe to say that the worst of the recession is behind us,” said Randy Durham, president of the Chattanooga Association of Realtors.
But Mr. Durham and others don’t expect to return to the record sales and home prices of 2006 until the economy rebounds and more jobs return. In the meantime, many of those selling houses may have to take a lower price than they would have got a few years ago for their house.