Despite a continued drop in the inventory of homes on the market, Chattanooga Realtors boosted home sales again last month, bucking a nationwide drop in Realtor-assisted home sales.
The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors reported Thursday home sales in August rose 4.5 percent over a year ago to help keep Chattanooga on pace for another record year of home sales. Local Realtors sold 887 single-family homes last month, up from 835 the previous month and 849 a year ago.
The sales gains came despite higher median prices and fewer homes on the market in Chattanooga and a drop in home sales nationwide. The median price of homes sold last month in Chattanooga was $167,000, or 6.1 percent more than a year ago. But Chattanooga home prices, on average, were still 30.5 percent below the U.S. median sales price of $240,200 in August,
In most markets, Americans retreated from home-buying last month, as a worsening inventory shortage appears to be hurting sales and pushing prices higher.
Sales of existing homes slipped 0.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.33 million, the second straight monthly decline, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.