A trend can basically be defined as a general direction in which something is developing or changing. So the question arises, what constitutes a trend in real estate sales?
The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors released the residential home sales report for the month of August this past week. In that release, GCAR reported a 7.6 percent increase in the number of homes sold vs. August 2011. This represents the 10th month in a row that GCAR has posted an increase in the number of units sold in the market compared to the same months last year. In addition, over the last 12 consecutive months GCAR members have produced a 12.2 percent increase in the number of units sold when compared to the previous year. So again the question arises, does this constitute a positive trend in real estate sales in our market?
A second key statistic reported by GCAR this week is that the median sales price of all homes sold in August 2012 increased by 5.6 percent when compared to August 2011. This is the sixth month in 2012 that GCAR has reported an increase in median sales price. While January and July saw decreases in the median price when compared to those months last year, the overall median sales price over the last 12 months is up 3.8 percent. So again, does this indicate a positive trend in real estate prices and values in our market?
The overall number of residential properties available for sale in August
2012 was down 13.8 percent in comparison to August of last year. In