Around the country, you have probably heard that home sales are down a little. The crazy thing is that home sales are not down in Chattanooga. We continue to have a strong home buyer demand as home buyers are waiting in the wings for homes to come on the market. Home sales were up in May by 28.4% in Chattanooga. Home prices in Chattanooga are also still going up. Prices were up in May by 7.2%. For home sellers, you know that you home should sell quickly.
The good news for home buyers is that 1) interest rates have eased a bit and are now below 7%. 2) Home buyers also have more homes to choose from right now. New listing were up by 25% in May and the inventory of homes for sale was up 33.3%. Even though the median home sale prices are up, 3) a buyer has more leverage to negotiate on the listing price (in many price ranges) than they did 1 year ago. If you are buying in a first time buyer price range, the competition could be more intense but in the upper price ranges, you have a bit more room to negotiate than in the past. Each submarket is different and each home sale is different, so be sure that you have a good Realtor helping you buy a home and who will feel out the situation surrounding the home you want to be buy and guide you on how aggressive your offer needs to be. Let me, Nathan Walldorf, know if you want to buy or sell your home. I’d be happy to help with more than 19 years of experience in real estate.