Home prices in the Nashville area continued growing in September: The median sale price was $236,866, according to the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors — up 12 percent over last year.

This real estate market can intimidate first-timers, says 
28-year-old Tres
Wittum.

“Renting is so much more accommodating and easy in the short-term,” he says.

But Wittum realized a couple of years ago that it made more financial sense to buy, rather than rent long-term. He also realized prices kept rising.

“You’re thinking, ‘If I don’t jump on something before long, it’s going to be so outrageous that I can’t afford anything.’ “

He says he was getting discouraged on his housing search and was recently
 in the process of moving between rentals — from North Nashville to Bellevue — when he saw something that changed his plans.

“I had noticed there was a for-sale sign in the neighbor’s yard across from the place that I had rented,” he says.

The house was within his price range and close to downtown. Wittum officially closed on it last week.

The rising prices are not deterring too many other homebuyers either. More people in the region bought houses in September 2015 than any month in 2014 — and September isn’t even considered peak home-buying season.

Rising Costs, Rising Sales

• Home sales in Sept.
  2015: 3,444
• Home sales in Sept.
  2014: 3,122
• Median price in Sept.
  2015: $236,866
• Median price in Sept.
  2014: $211,400
• Record median sale price in Nashville: $240,000, in June 2015