Unit sales sagged 17% in April, Greater Nashville Realtors statistics show, while prices rose from a median of $306,975 in April 2019 to $330,000 for April 2020.

GNR President Kristy Hairston says homes continue to sell, “which is evident in the 3,050 pending sales for May.”

“When we move toward the new normal, all indicators point to a market rebound,” says Hairston, who by all accounts is performing remarkably well in trying times. Inventory is down more than 2,600 units versus last April, she adds, another factor in the sales numbers falling.

Greater Nashville Realtors numbers are composed of sales in Nashville and some neighboring counites. In Davidson County, the number of houses that went under contract rose from 332 two weeks ago to 353 last week. Three weeks ago, that number was 285.

Even with the city being under Mayor Cooper’s Safer at Home under, sales in Nashville have continued to grow as real estate was considered an essential business. As the city opens, real estate experts are seeing more listings entering a market with starved buyers.

Sale of the Week

Nashville’s residential real estate market has been afire during last eight years as sales numbers and prices have soared with each passing month. With the extended period of growth the area has experienced since the Great Recession, the pain and uncertainty of that period is but a distant memory, more a statistic than an actual event.

3905 Nevada

Although unemployment numbers are now staggering, and the COVID-19 situation brings an entirely different set of challenges, there are those who expect that the market could fall prey to another dip.

One of the main differences is that the money supply is in better shape than during the Recession when banks and lenders scurried to cope with a dwindling supply of funds to loan. As Ronald Reagan once said: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”

In the early going, the government was helpful by offering incentives to first-time homebuyers. But as time passed, Congress could not help themselves and reworked the closing process and documentation to the point that few can understand it to this very day.

With the end of the Recession eight years in the rear-view mirror, many Nashville residents were not in the real estate market at the time and others sat tight and endured the financial storm. Consequently, there are those who are unaware of exactly what can happen.

Overall, houses that were in excellent condition, lacking nothing that the buyer of the day desired and constructed atop a highly desirable lot in an enviable location sold for top of the market in a few hours. Yet a home with anything that could be considered the slightest deficiency would be tortured and would labor for months on the market, while whatever the shortcoming would be overlooked in the most recent times.

The property located at 3905 Nevada in Sylvan Heights would be a worthy example of market victimization.

Last week, the cozy abode sold for $307,000 in one day in a multiple-offer scenario. The listing team of Sylvan Park/Sylvan Heights expert Christie Wilson and her colleague Abigail Murphy priced the home at $299,900, a strategy that worked to perfection on this property.

What, you may ask, is the deficiency? Nothing, unless the buyer considered having one bedroom a deficiency. In the period spanning 2008-2011, that was a deficiency. In 2020, it is a strong selling point.

With one-bedroom condominiums often outselling two-bedroom condos within the same complex, buyers have become accustomed to one-bedroom living and prefer it.

This property on Nevada sold in 2005 for $155,000 and in 2007, before the Recession, sold for $217,500, as all the real estate market was flourishing.

A few months after closing for $217,500, the property was put on the market for $215,000. After 437 days on the market and five price reductions, the last to $169,000, the house sold for $150,000, $67,500 less than what the owner paid.

Now, in a strong market, it sold for $307,000. The chances of it appreciating are solid with the evolution of the Nations and the popularity of one-bedroom homes.

For that matter, tiny houses are selling well in various communities across the country, and this residence is twice the size of some tiny houses. It was described by Murphy and Wilson as a Victorian-style cottage with historic details, 10-foot ceilings, pine floors, spacious rooms, original doors and hardware.

“Don’t let the one bedroom scare you. It’s large,” they added. Staria Clark of Compass represented the buyer.

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