August sales even out; 2017 sees 5% increase in sales, 10% increase in prices overall
Middle Tennessee’s housing market has entered its annual cooling period but 2017 is on track to be a banner year, according to data from The Red Report and Greater Nashville Realtors.
This home is at 1728 Londonview Place in Antioch. The 3 bedroom home, with 1,104 square feet, is listed for $172.900.
“2017 has proven to be a remarkable and record-setting year in the real estate industry,” Greater Nashville Realtors President Scott Troxel said. “August continued the trend of rising sales, being up 3 percent over last August. In fact, this is the best month of August we have had in this region in over a decade.”
There were 3,883 closings reported for the month of August, according to figures provided by Greater Nashville Realtors, which tracks single-family residential, condominium, multi-family, and lot sales across the midstate.
This represents an increase of 3.8 percent over August 2016. Meanwhile, year-to-date closings total 27,248, which is a 5.2 percent increase compared to August 2016.
While the market increased over 2016, single-family home sales were even from July to August in Davidson, Rutherford, Williamson and Wilson counties, according to The Red Report.
As homes have sold in the area and depleted inventories prices have been pushed even higher, said Steven Dotson, president of Red Realty and issuer of The Red Report. Middle Tennessee has a 2.5 month supply of inventory.
“We usually see sales decrease as we head into fall/winter,” Dotson said, “so it will be hard to determine whether any decreases are due to our regular seasonal adjustment or because of low inventories.”
The midstate needs a four-month supply for a healthy market for both sellers and buyers, Dotson said. But as long as demand outstrips supply, prices will continue to rise.
According to Dotson’s data the average price of a home is $373,474 in Davidson, Rutherford, Williamson and Wilson counties. That’s 45 percent higher than 2006 and 10 percent higher than 2016.
In Davidson County, the average closing price increased 14 percent to $371,537 in 2017, according to The Red Report.
Nationally, home prices are up 6.2 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors.
In GNR’s eight-county region, the median residential price for a single-family home sold in August was $285,000. This compares with last year’s median residential prices of $253,000.
Across the GNR region, the condo market saw its highest median price at $207,061, Troxel said. In August 2016, condos sold for a median price of $189,900.
“As a whole, the first-time buyer price range, which includes many condominiums, is particularly sparse in terms of inventory, so the rise in median price is understandable,” he said.
“We look expectantly to the building of new units and current owners listing their properties as a way to alleviate some of the strain many first-time buyers are experiencing in the market.”
Active inventory at the end of August was 9,208, down from 10,270 in 2016 in the GNR region.
But more inventory might not help in the short-term, Dotson said.
“There is enough penned up demand that if we have a flood of listings, the sales would increase,” he said.
But then prices might too as more buyers come out off the sidelines.
September is likely to outpace the same month in 2016, according to GNR.
There were 3,939 properties under contract at the end of the month, compared to the 3,447 properties under contract at this time last year.
The average number of days on the market for a single-family home was 25 days.
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