As the number of cases of COVID continue to grow, the Nashville residential real estate market continues to post baffling numbers.

With its best start in history, 2020 sales rivaled those of the record setting 2019 through the first three months of the year. April was then slightly down, and May’s sales fell 22% compared to the previous May, yet there was hope as pending sales were up slightly.

In residential real estate, more homes close at the end of the month than any other day. Realtors often break into the business with clients who need every penny of their savings to close and, when closing on the last day of the month, there is only one day of prepaid interest, taxes and insurance.

If a person closes on the second day of the month, there could be 29 days of charges for those prepaid items.

Old habits are seldom broken, so most vie for an end-of-month closing, even when more sophisticated buyers realize those expenses occur for every day the buyer owns the house whether they buy at the first of the month or the end of the month. However, there is less out of pocket expense when closing at the end of the month, so most buyers opt for that date dragging the sellers along with them.

Closing attorneys and real estate offices often take a few days to process the sales, and an accurate accounting of transactions for any one month might not be available until the fourth or fifth day of the following month.

All of this is a disclaimer for the numbers that will be shared in this column, which was written on the morning of June 30 and will not include the avalanche of transactions that closed that day.

So let’s look at this year’s Davidson County sales compared to sales through June 29 last year:

Last year, in the first 29 days of June, there were 1,472 sales. This year there were 985. The Greater Nashville Realtors sales figures are compiled from all the area counties, and when the organization publishes its June numbers it will reflect those closings.

In Davidson County sales appear to be off 33% June 2020 versus June 2019.

An important note: These properties went under contact before the recent rise in COVID numbers. This year 104 of the 985 June sales were for more than $600,000. That marks a 50% decrease from June 2019 when there were 215 sales of $600,000 of more.

A similar percentage can be found in the $1 million-plus category, with 35 sales in 2020 and 64 in 2019.

Mask or no mask, testing or no testing, there’s no denying residential sales numbers are falling.

Sale of the Week

The Highlands of Belle Meade were so named due to their proximity to Belle Meade, the fabled land of real estate lore.

When it was developed, the homes constructed there were sold due to their location. Often priced even lower than Green Hills and West Meade, many of the homeowners bought there knowing it was as close to Belle Meade as they could ever afford.

109 Taggart Ave

During the 1980s, many of the ranch-style homes that dotted the Highlands landscape were renovated and expanded, and the area began to develop an identity. Homes in the area began to sell for more than $150,000.

As late as 1997, the heralded Ria Grasman sold a house for $250,000 on Cheek Road.

In the early 2000s, Michael Shears, a visionary builder, began to buy homes that were in poor condition, demolish them and build larger, grander homes in their place. By 2004, he was commanding unheard prices for the Belle Meade Highlands, as it was known at the time, selling two homes for $799,000 and $835,000 each. The real estate community was in shock.

In 2005, Shears prices climbed to $939,000, and shortly thereafter hit the $1 million mark. Others followed his lead and got into the act.

Residential Realtors began to see prices in the neighborhood – now known as the Highlands of Belle Meade – surpass prices found in nearby Belle Meade. Students of the market wondered where the price increases would end.

On Aug. 10, 2018, the unthinkable occurred when 119 West Tyne Drive sold for $2.18 million. In his wildest dreams, Michael Shears would not have thought a home could sell for more than $2 million when he began developing his business model and implemented his campaign.

Last week, 109 Taggart sold for $2.15 million when contractor extraordinaire Baird Graham, has become recognized in the community for quality construction, built a 5,676-square-foot home on the half acre lot.

The property was listed by Parks agent Happy Fulk, who certainly was the day this house closed. Fulk describes Graham as a builder whose “craftsmanship stands out with details and one-of-a-kind touches that you won’t see elsewhere.”

Tara McGuire was the co-listing agent along with Fulks. They have branded themselves “Happy Tara Homes,” achieving No. 1 spot in February sales for the Green Hills office of Parks.

With this $2.15 million sale under their collective belt, look the jolly pair to repeat in June.

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