Home prices rise in Mid-South
* Nashville, $262,600, up 12.1 percent* Atlanta, $224,300, up 9.7 percent* Birmingham, Ala., $213,400, up 7.4 percent* Huntsville, Ala., $200,300, up 4.3 percent* Knoxville, $191, 200, up 6.1 percent* Chattanooga – $187,900, up 5.5 percent* Memphis, $180,600, up 4.6 percent* U.S. average, $266,900, up 4.8 percentSource: National Association of Realtors, Median sales price of existing single-family homes for third quarter 2018 and the change from a year earlier.
Buying a house in Chattanooga is getting more expensive and difficult for many moderate-income families, but the local market remains a bargain compared with much of America, according to new figures compiled by the National Association of Realtors.
The typical house sold by a Chattanooga Realtor this summer was priced 5.5 percent more than a year earlier as home prices continued to grow nearly twice as fast as the 3 percent average gain in worker wages.
But housing prices in Chattanooga still remained nearly 30 percent below the U.S. average and below most other Mid-south markets, helping to keep the affordability of homes in Chattanooga better than most of the country.
“I’ve never seen the inventory of homes as tight as it is today and we’re often seeing multiple offers for properties – sometimes even above list price,” said Kathy Tucker, a Realtor for the past 42 years who serves as managing broker for Crye-Leike Realtors in Hixson and president of the Tennessee Realtors association. “But Chattanooga is still an extremely affordable market compared to most of the country. People moving here are often pleasantly surprised by our prices.”