Real Estate Brokers Expect VW Plant To Boost Home Sales

   This Volkswagen VICTORY comes at a perfect time with the economy turning worse on many fronts. One sector that should improve is real estate which means money for many of you.

   We spent the afternoon with veteran Chattanooga real estate broker James Perry.He says the first surge should happen off Bonny Oaks, Highway 58 and Ooltewah. He expects downtown and beyond to benefit as well. Perry says this news takes the caution out of the air.

   Perry showed us a condo on Frazier Avenue in north Chattanooga. His company wants 582 thousand dollars for the 1,918 square foot unit. Right now, it's one of four unsold condos in this 12 unit development known as The Four Seventeen.Perry says it and other units have stood vacant for a year. He says other brokers have had it much worse with high end condos.But with VW moving here, he expects a change in this market. "I think it's going to be a major shot in the arm. I think we've already seen that in the last 24 hours. I continue to mention that caution that's been in the air. I think the mindset is so positive already," Perry said.

   Perry's company also works in the commercial sector where he expects growth like that already happening in Ooltewah. New hotels, restaurants and stores should reap during Volkswagen's construction phase and beyond. Brokers expect home sales in Ooltewah to move quickly. County Mayor Claude Ramsey told us the timing could not have been sweeter. "At a very difficult time in the economy of this country, this was a very significant announcement," Mayor Ramsey said.

Meanwhile, Perry's company specializes in high end properties. He says 30 to 40 sellers called Tuesday with crazy enthusiasm, a phenomenon he calls "fantasy land." Perry replayed the frenetic activity, "Sellers had called in and said hey, we've been advised, I don't know if they had been advised by their friends or neighbors or who, but they were advised to raise their prices 25 or 50 thousand dollars," Perry said.

     He added, that's not likely to happen. In context, he says right now the market has about two times more homes available than in good times. He added conditions show contractors built too many high end condos at the same time. But landing this plant should spark sales. "I think it's actually going to cause some movement on some of those properties that have been sitting there."