New Home Sales Strong in Midstate

Middle Tennessee’s new home market remains steady, despite national trends.

In many parts of the country, housing sales are in steep decline, and the demand for new homes has dropped dramatically. According to “The Wall Street Journal,” one national mortgage lender is slashing its earnings forecasts, and home builder Centex is projecting a record loss.

But that’s not the case here, according to the executive officer of the Middle Tennessee Homebuilders Association. John Sheley [SHE-lee] says strong job growth and a rising population continue to feed the local market for new homes.

“I’d say we had been growing, we’ve been having record year after record year and it’s almost the expectation is now if we don’t have a record year in 2007, you know, it must be a drawback and frankly, it could just be a pause that refreshes. But we’ve increased our closing and permits every year now through the 90s and up ’til now.”

While growth is strong at all price points, Sheley says there’s an increasing number of luxury homes in the Nashville area. That’s driven in part by workers relocating from more expensive regions, who find that the proceeds from the sale of a modest home there can buy a fancier one here. And he says there’s a trend in some counties for builders to offset rising taxes and fees by constructing larger homes that can sell for higher prices.