Home Closings Fall below 1,000 for January

Home sales in Nashville have slowed to a rate not seen since February of 1994.

The Greater Nashville Association of Realtors reports fewer than a thousand closings last month.

“Dramatic” is how GNAR President Mike Nichols describes the new numbers. He says seeing home sales slip back 15 years is a wakeup call to realtors.

“We can have great interest rates and stimulus packages and stuff, but if you don’t have a job, you can’t buy a home anyway. But I think the stimulus package has really got some people on the fence right now.”

Nichols says some prospective buyers are waiting to see if the $15,000 tax credit for all home buyers makes it in the final stimulus package. If it does, Nichols says February could see increased activity. Sales were down more than 40 percent for January, compared with 2008. And home prices slipped as well. The median price for a single family home fell to $165,000, down from nearly $180,000 last year.