Price And Pace Of Nashville Home Sales Both Fall In August

Home sales in the Nashville area cooled off for a second straight month. But homebuyers may see the news as a bit of a relief.

Closings in August were
down slightly compared to the same month last year (.o8%), and median prices dipped for the first time since February — though at $253,000, that’s still higher than any month in 2015. The Greater Nashville Association of Realtors is saying the tick downward is nothing to worry about.

“Home sales for our market were essentially flat for August,” GNAR president Denise Creswell said in a statement. “Technically, we were down from last August, but by less than one percent. Considering the time of year and the continued struggle with inventory, a slight decrease in sales is not unexpected.”
   

If anything, state worker and first-time homebuyer Kathryn Schulte welcomes the easing on prices and the pace of the housing market. She and her husband rent a 600-square-foot house in East Nashville. The area has become so popular that she could hardly afford to buy something of similar size.

“One of the purposes of buying a house was also to get more space in case we ever have kids,” she said. “To think these little houses might not even be achievable is kind of scary.”

Schulte has a contract to buy what she calls a “fixer-upper” in Charlotte Park, west of town off Briley Parkway. She says she almost gave up finding a house when it looked like everything in their budget and close to the city was either a townhouse or new construction of two homes on one lot, leaving no yard.

Since January, home sales are still in positive territory for the year. Closings are up more than four percent over 2015.