While much of the country was working on a phased reopening of the economy in June, real estate activity continued to strengthen as well. Nationally, June showing activity was up considerably from the COVID-19 depressed levels in recent months but was also up from June 2019, reflecting pent-up demand by prospective home buyers.
In fact, a recently released study from NAR, 2020 Market Recovery Survey, polled agents about their respective residential and commercial real estate markets, finding that 92% of respondents stated that a portion of their buyers have either returned to or never left the market. Clearly buyers are eager to get into the market.
There are plenty of buyers out there, but seller activity continues to be a bit softer with fewer homes being listed for sale than a year ago. Many housing experts believe sellers remain reluctant to list their homes due to continued concerns over COVID-19, which was beginning to see a resurgence in June.
Until sellers regain confidence, housing inventory will continue to be constrained during what is expected to be an active summer selling season.
Locally, New Listings in the Chattanooga region decreased 1.5 % to 1,266. Pending Sales were up 41.9% to 1,364. Inventory levels shrank 42.0% to 1,757 units. Prices also continued to gain traction. The Median Sales Price increased 4.7% to $225,000. Days on Market was down 8.9 % to 41 days. Sellers were encouraged as Months Supply of Inventory was down 45.7% to 1.9 months.
So what does all this information mean? It means that there are fewer houses on the market now, and if you use a Realtor’s expertise when listing your house for sale, you might be in a very good position. Realtors have the latest tools to serve the homebuying needs of our community. That’s Who We R®.