It's exciting to see that the U.S. housing market is on a solid upward trend. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that existing home sales increased for the second month. This increase is the largest in the past year and well above what experts had forecasted.
For March, U.S. existing-home sales jumped 9.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million units. The rebound comes amid fluctuating mortgage rates and elevated sales prices, indicating there is plenty of buyer demand heading into the spring selling season.
This surge is reflected locally in Chattanooga, where new property listings have slightly risen, and pending sales have grown. Additionally, the housing inventory has expanded by 15%. This could indicate that buyers are active and willing to tolerate longer wait times and higher prices.
New Listings in the Chattanooga region increased 1.2 percent to 1,207. Pending Sales were up 1.9 percent to 1,020. Inventory levels grew 15.0 percent to 2,054 units.
Prices continued to gain traction. The Median Sales Price increased by 4.4 percent to $329,000. Days on Market were up 22.2 percent to 44 days. Buyers felt empowered, as the Months' Supply of Inventory was up 26.3 percent to 2.4 months.
The recent surge in home sales was likely due to a dip in mortgage rates in December and an increase in housing supply nationwide. According to NAR, total inventory grew 5.9 percent month-over-month and 10.3 percent year-over-year to 1.07 million units, for a 2.9 months’ supply at the current sales pace. Buyer demand remains robust, and the limited supply of inventory helped push the median existing-home sales price up 5.7% year-over-year to $384,500, the eighth consecutive month of annual price increases.
With the Chattanooga real estate market showing signs of robust activity, buyers might find more opportunities due to increased inventory, while sellers benefit from price appreciation. Both buyers and sellers should stay informed and consider current market trends when making decisions. The real estate landscape in Chattanooga remains favorable, with potential for further developments as we move deeper into 2024. That’s Who We R®.