Greater Nashville home sales are down, but prices are up; Real estate expert shares reasons why

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Greater Nashville real estate market has done an about-face. After several months of sales growth, the numbers started to fall this summer, but prices have not.

Through a pandemic, and historic interest rates, the Greater Nashville real estate market looked unstoppable. Sales remained strong. But, this summer, that’s shifting.

“Total transactions are down 13% from last month, but they are also down 13% year-over-year,” said Jeff Checko.

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Checko, the relocation director with The Ashton Real Estate Group of RE/MAX Advantage , points to new data that shows sales down double digits, and inventory up 36.2% since last year.

“In certain areas, it feels more like a buyer’s market where buyers are calling the shots and, at the very least, getting concessions and in a lot of cases, price reductions and concessions.”

Under the weight of rising inventory and fewer sales, you would expect prices would start falling right now, but, Checko said they are not. In fact, prices are up 6.8% since last year, with the median home price at $470,000.

Checko said there are two reasons. First, the resale market has very little incentive to put out the For Sale sign.

“If you’re going to be sitting on a pretty historically low interest rate, it’s a situation where, ‘Hey, if I get this price, then I’ll move; if not, it’s okay. It’s not my time. I’ll wait.'”

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Second, the new construction market would rather help you pay for your title insurance, closing costs, appraisal, even document fees, before having to lower the sticker price on a home.

“If you’re a seller, especially in new construction where you have another phase to complete or X number of houses, you would much rather pay for someone to get better affordability than drop your prices.”

Checko said if the amount of inventory keeps climbing, we could see the sticker price on homes come down as well.

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