Records were set for 2019 home sales in the Greater Nashville area in both overall transactions and transfers of $1 million or more.

There were 481 single-family homes and 43 condos that sold for $1 million-plus in 2019, Realtracs reports. That compares to 394 single-family homes and 43 condos – yes, the same number of condos – selling for $1 million-plus in 2018.

Of the 524 upper-end sales in 2019, two were for more than $5 million, four were for more than $4 million and 11 were for $3 million or more. The 437 transactions in 2018 featured one $7.2 million sale and one of $5 million-plus, two for $4 million-plus and eight sales of $3 million-plus.

Property values continue to increase in the area, and 2020 would seem to be headed in the same direction.

Two years ago, it was speculated that there were between 85 and 100 people relocating to Nashville each day. That number is rumored to have been reduced to 54 each day. Most residential agents, and there are more than 5,000 in Nashville, are of the opinion that there are more buyers in search of real estate than at any time in the past. Sales numbers support that argument.

That growth has changed the market drastically in 20 years ago, when Nashvillians were buying the homes of other Nashvillians. Death, divorce, aging demographics, expansion or contraction of family size, changes in financial situations and other factors had families and individuals moving around town in healthy numbers that usually supported a 3%-5% increase in property values.

Today, there are more teardowns spawning more new construction. Agriculture has all but vanished from the area as farmland is turned into subdivisions. There are more flippers trying to buy low and sell high.

To further complicate things for those considering selling their homes, the radio programming is proliferated with advertisements of “guaranteed offers,” a situation wherein real estate firms guarantee a certain cash offer without the “inconveniences of open houses, showings and making costly repairs.”

George Strait has some oceanfront property in Arizona.

Sale of the Week

Located at 1212 Laurel Street, the condominium development known as 1212 began closing sales in late 2014. New residents continued closing through 2015 as there are 23 floors in the building. With the successful Adelicia on his resume, Ray Hensler had his sights on an even more luxurious product with healthy price tags to go along with them.

At the time, there was some concern that the buyers who were purchasing the penthouse units might need to be removed from their homes feet first in order to escape losing money on their investments. Let the heirs deal with it.

That has not proven to be the case, and the offspring can relish and delight in their parents’ purchases as they are appreciating as well as any other investment, unless Ray Hensler offers them a piece of his next project, whatever that may be.

Recently, one of the penthouses sold for $2.15 million, a price of $960 per square foot, lower than some that have cracked the $1,000-per-square-foot mark. With only a few days on the market, the estate had little to worry about as the money was on the way to the bank within six weeks of the listing date.

The seller had purchased the condo in March 2018 for $1,974,930, and the previous, original owner had paid $1,616,825 in 2015, realizing a gross profit of $358,105 in the four years of ownership.

Penthouses always bring the highest prices and, as one developer lamented, “It’s a shame we have to build those other 20 floors in order to get penthouse prices.”

Unit 2302 at 1212 includes 2,239 square feet with two bedrooms and two full bathrooms along with a half bathroom. Listing agents Prentiss Holt and Kevin Davis mentioned the home features “tons of beautiful millwork” and wrote that the “previous owner put an incredible attention to detail in making the condo feel luxurious and spacious.”

Being situated next to an office building with its own parking garage that spans several floors, there is ample parking available for 1212 guests on nights and weekends. The 1212 garage features a green area for dogs along with spray showers for the canines.

The pool is off the clubhouse area, and there is a weight room complete with training staff in the building. Chad Wohlers, one of the more successful Realtors in Nashville, especially in urban high-rise condo market, represented the buyer. Wohlers hails from Village, now marketed as VILLAGE, taking a page from PARKS.

Not that it would matter to most 1212 dwellers, but the school zoning is unusual. For elementary school, students would attend Carter Lawrence Elementary Magnet School, 1118 12th Avenue South. For middle school, they move out to J.T. Moore, which is on Granny White Pike past Lipscomb University. Then for high school, the students are zoned for Hillwood, a school near the Belle Meade Mansion. Such zoning would not spawn much community loyalty.

Richard Courtney is a licensed real estate broker with Fridrich and Clark Realty and can be reached at [email protected].