Tennessee's fourth quarter housing market showed continued positive trends, with home prices rising statewide even as the total number of permits dropped from the previous quarter, according to the latest quarterly report from the MTSU Business and Economic Research Center.

Total permits for Tennessee were down 14 percent from the third quarter of last year, primarily due to multi-family permits dropping 41 percent. Single-family permits were basically unchanged from the previous quarter and total permits ended the year only down 1 percent from 2017.

Meanwhile, housing prices statewide were up 7.9 percent year-over-year, which is 1.6 percentage points higher than the national average, noted BERC Director Murat Arik.

Other highlights:

• Areas showing the most price growth from the previous quarter were the Nashville MSA (10.3 percent), Chattanooga (10 percent), and Johnson City (6.4 percent).

• The Johnson City MSA showed the most significant increase in home prices from last quarter, and the Nashville MSA continues to show the highest percentage in the state, Arik noted.

• In home sales, the report noted that home closings in the Nashville and Memphis metropolitan areas showed increases from last quarter and a steady home sales market.

"The data this quarter indicate Tennessee continues to maintain a strong economic climate, which helps support an active housing market," Arik said.

See the full current and previous reports with detailed breakdowns and summaries by going to http://mtsu.edu/berc/housing.php and clicking the appropriate links.

BERC's report is funded by Tennessee Housing Development Agency. The quarterly report offers an overview of the state's economy as it relates to the housing market and includes data on employment, housing construction, rental vacancy rates, real estate transactions and mortgages, home sales and prices, delinquencies and foreclosures.

The Business and Economic Research Center operates under the Jennings A. Jones College of Business at MTSU. For more information, visit http://mtsu.edu/berc/.

THDA publishes research on affordable housing, its programs and beneficiaries. THDA also coordinates state planning for housing through the Consolidated Planning process, annual Action Plans, and annual Performance Reports. See http://thda.org/research-planning/research-planning for more information.