Nothing shows how hot the Nashville real estate market is like the selling record of the top realtor in Tennessee. Erin Krueger was recently named one of the country’s top agents by REAL Trends. She negotiated 344 deals last year: that’s closing nearly one home a day.
Krueger listed a house during last February’s snowstorm. She says that two days later, there were 21 offers. Interested buyers wrote letters and even sent in videos to the sellers in a desperate effort to win the house. Krueger says she’s never seen anything like it.
“I see so many times a buyer that has their heart set on something. This is it. They get that feeling right when they walk through the door. But then somebody else is knocking on the door for the next showing. And we know that there’s 20 business cards on the counter that show that 20 other agents were showing the house,” Krueger said.
Krueger says the reason behind this competition is simple. The housing supply in Nashville can’t keep up with the dozens of residents flocking into the city everyday. Which means the available houses have hefty price tags.
“We used to see, you know, $175,000, $165,000 was kind of that entry-level. And it’s very hard to see stuff at $225,000 anymore, especially around the Davidson County area, the outer areas all over Middle Tennessee. It’s a very competitive market,” Krueger said.
Buying and selling houses has crescendoed in speed and intensity. Data from the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors shows that the median price of homes has increased ten percent over the past year. Over the past five years, the number of homes sold has doubled.
Krueger says she’s not sure if the housing market will hold at this rate. Her office predicted home sales would reach a lull at the conclusion of the buying season last fall. But the demand for real estate has stayed steady.
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