Last week I had the pleasure of hearing Jessica Lautz, NAR Deputy Chief Economist and Vice President of Research, present to Greater Nashville REALTORS®️ the latest data and forecasting both nationally and locally.
Some of the most interesting takeaways were seeing the numbers behind some of the trends we were seeing, affirming that they were more prevalent than we thought. For instance, the headlines about foreclosures becoming rampant simply do not have the data to support such a claim. Stricter lending laws and equity via appreciation have kept the vast majority of homeowners in the black.
Below shows the height of foreclosures during the 2008 crisis up to now.
Then we look at how Tennessee and Nashville are performing vs the rest of the country, and you can see by the blue shading how we are growing and migration to our area is still significant.
I found this next chart very interesting. I had read before that single women were buying more homes than single men, but I had not seen any hard data, and I had no idea about the roommate statistics! Affordability is a problem, and people are finding solutions to ease the burden to make homeownership more accessible.
Speaking of affordability, downsizing from the family home is not something we are seeing as much of currently. Many empty nesters and retirees are instead opting to stay put vs sell and downsize. This is also contributing to our inventory shortage – many of these homeowners might like to downsize, but find it doesn’t always make sense financially to do so.
So with all that in mind, we have a softer market, but are not seeing a bust, and sales are already starting to pick up a little. Buyers scared off in the Fall by higher interest rates are getting more comfortable with 6% and are starting to step off the sidelines and look again.
If you’ve never taken a class via University School of Nashville’s Evening Classes Program, do yourself a favor! I’ve taken several different classes over the years, but always in the food and cooking genre. There are tons of other options from painting and gardening to evenings with local celebrities. The latest adventure was a cooking class from Chef Brian Morris of Hattie B’s and it was tons of fun, educational, and, of course, delicious. To view my reel recapping the evening, click here.
Until next time,
