Here’s a look at where all our buyers are coming from.
What are the migration patterns of people moving to Chattanooga?
I’ve been doing some research, and U-Haul says that in 2020, Tennessee was the No. 1 location for all of their moves. United Van Lines, the largest van line company in the U.S., says that Tennessee made their list of the top 10 states for inbound moves for the very first time. We clocked in at No. 7, with 60% inbound moves versus outbound.
Specific to Hamilton County, the latest information I could find was the 2014 to 2018 census. During that time, 11,468 people moved into Hamilton County from different states. From within the state, just over 7,000 people moved here. There were just over 1,000 international inbound residents.
“Affordability will hopefully get better once the supply chain improves for new construction.”
United Van Lines conducted a study examining why these moves were made, and according to them, 32% of the moves were due to jobs (not surprising), 29% were due to family, 17% were due to lifestyle, and 6% were retirees. They also found that the migration from the major hotspots was going toward lower density populations and states with lower taxes.
All of this has contributed to our housing shortage. At the end of May, there were 58.4% fewer homes on the market compared to last year. The official number was 934 homes, and in all honesty, that’s the first time I’ve seen that number increase over 800 in a long time.
During one of their broadcasts, WSMV-TV stated that out-of-state purchases surpassed local purchases in Nashville, and out-of-state purchasers have 50% larger budgets. This means they’re going to keep buying expensive homes, and locals will have to compete with these people who have higher budgets. Incidentally, 63% of those purchases were sight-unseen. According to the National Association of Realtors, almost 50% of all homes in the U.S. are selling for over their listing prices, and 25% of all transactions are all-cash.
This means it’s more difficult in this market for local, first-time buyers—especially those who aren’t making all-cash offers. Affordability will hopefully get better once the supply chain improves for new construction. We’ll also have people who need to downsize (empty-nesters, for example), so that will free up some inventory as well.
Regardless of what happens, I’ll keep an eye on our market for you. If you have any questions or are thinking of buying or selling soon, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to hear from you.
