Although Nashville is building a ton of new homes – like we are at the top of the Nation’s leaders in new home construction, we’re in the top 4 – the pace hasn’t really kept up with the demand in recent years. So let’s take a quick look at some information from this past week that has me scratching my head, and might be of use for you.

So the info I’m talking about came from the Nashville Business Journal with heavy focus on findings from Redfin and some reporting they had done. It shines a light on the fact that if you’re talking about new homes, like newly built and building permits – you’re mostly talking about new construction.  As you and I both know building permits are also pulled for remodels, flips and neighborhood HPRs, but this article didn’t really address that. They did, however, point out a fantastic quote by the Chief Economist at Redfin..

He says, “If there had been enough homes at the start of the pandemic, housing costs might not have skyrocketed the way they did over the past two years…” of course. I recommend checking out the article on bizjournals.com, I’ll put the link on my YouTube channel in case you’re seeing this video somewhere else. He goes on to point out we need things like subsidies and up-zoning in favor of better solutions for more affordable housing development.

(https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2022/06/10/nashville-new-homes-building-home-prices-redfin.html)

This is something that I’m seeing across the board in town where rezoning is happening at the expense of possible, new local residents, as opposed to creating a housing situation that can benefit and fill the needs of this busting-out-the-seems economy. Because, our culture is shifting hard right now with new people coming here everyday. I think it’s worth a look at where the holes exist in housing in the areas where people live right now, as opposed to just putting a development somewhere else just because you can. Did you know during the pandemic land prices went up by 30-40% in Tennessee? That push away from the city causes an uncontrolled ripple effect. I would love to see us be better prepared as a city for these inevitable changes due to whatever the next monkey-virus is going to be. But I also prefer economy at scale, not reckless abandon.

I would also love to see new home builders not be quite so rushed and unfriendly to buyers in the arena of big construction. All the biggest residential builders in town are one of the driving forces for this new home development. I’m not just focused on metros like Nashville and Madison, I’m also focused on outskirts like Hendersonville, Mount Juliet and even as far out as Watertown. This rushed development is causing a very confused approach to listing homes, and making Buyers and Sellers very unsure of how to interpret the collateral damage of what I would call a very unfocused trajectory for this housing market. It’s not unstable, at least not yet.

But I think we, as real estate industry professionals, need to have an eye on how each sale we make is benefiting the community, or not. And let me be clear, we can’t control the market as real estate agents, but we can help our clients make the best decisions they can in current market conditions. I’m not asking you to be a super hero, but it’s incumbent on you to get out there everyday and go adulting, hard! And for the buyers and sellers in this market right now, don’t hesitate if you’re ready to make a move. If you wait to see what’s going to happen, you miss the opportunities in front of you. Just know that if your agents aren’t paying attention to what’s going on in the current market, they’re not going to have a clear picture on how to sell your property, or help you find and negotiate a purchase.

It’s just my two cents, folks. But if you want to keep up with what’s happening on the real estate market and get some helpful tips along the way, like it, subscribe to it, let’s keep in touch – I do this every week. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and I’ll talk to you soon.