Tennessee Mortgage Demand, Home Sales Drop in February

Home sales in the Middle Tennessee housing market were down 1.3 percent from February 2006, but the prices of homes and condos are rising, according to data released from the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors.

This means there were 35 more homes, a total of 2,610, sold last February. Last month’s tally, which totaled 2,575, represents the second-highest February home sales on record in the Nashville housing market.

Year-to-date closings through February are down slightly more at 2.3 percent. That equates to 4,864 closings compared with 4,981 closings reported through February 2006.

GNAR President Richard Courtney says the figures mean the local market is stable.

“The number of closings during February shows that this market is sustaining a very aggressive pace,” Courtney said in the release. “The [Tennessee mortgage] market activity is virtually on track with last year’s record-breaking numbers.”

There were 2,874 sales pending at the end of the month, compared with 2,962 pending sales at this time last year. The average number of days on the market for a single-family home was 72 days.

The median residential price for a single-family home during February was $169,900. A condo price was slightly lower at $163,000. This represents an increase from last year’s median residential and condominium prices of $164,900 and $145,000, respectively - home purchase loan borrowers who are looking for a return on their investments should be glad that values are on the way up in the region.