The Chattanooga Times Free Press had a story about the state of the rental market in Chattanooga that included some comments from CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall. The article recounts how the addition of thousands of new units over the past five years has been followed by a reduction in rents and more…
11/1/25: Opinion – UTC Rollins College Research Details How Local Housing Affordability Declined
Clint Cooper, the Free Press editor at the Chattanooga Times Free Press, wrote an opinion piece base on the most recent CRER white paper, “Housing Affordability Trends in Chattanooga.” The piece outlined many of the findings in the research, especially that the main obstacle to housing affordability is high mortgage rates. Mortgage rates are still…
10/29/25: What’s Going There? Two Large Subdivisions in Hixson, East Brainerd
The Chattanooga Times Free Press tracks new building projects and has an interactive map showing where they are. A new article includes commentary from CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall about his recent white paper on housing affordability: “People are still moving in,” Wall said by phone. “Not as rapidly as before, because that…
10/23/25: After a Flat Year, Chattanooga Economist Says Region Could See Weak Job Growth
The Chattanooga Times Free Press covered the 2025 CRER Forecast Breakfast held on October 22: Howard Wall, the director of the Center for Regional Economic Research, told local officials he expects an average growth of 3,000 jobs by the end of 2025. Next year, however, he foresees a decent level of growth at 6,500 jobs. Wall…
10/23/25: Housing Affordability Trends in Chattanooga
A new research paper from the CRER examines housing affordability in the Chattanooga metro area. It looks at a variety of measures of housing affordability that account for increases in the median price, rising household incomes, smaller housing units, and the sharp increase in mortgage rates. It concludes that house affordability remains a problem relative…