When Nashville closed the door on 2020, at least symbolically, the city breathed a sigh of relief after suffering a tornado, a derecho, a pandemic and a hellacious bombing.

Unfortunately, as 2021 unfurls, the pandemic is hitting record numbers of deaths, the U.S. Capitol has been attacked and besieged, and the overall economy continues to suffer with tourism hitting a dismal low.

Then there is the residential real estate market hitting an all-time high with 44,850 sales in 2020, an increase from 2019 when there was no talk of pandemic, tornadoes or derechos, and no hint that one of our own would be able to detonate a bomb that would shatter Second Avenue.

The conversation instead centered on how many people were moving to Nashville every day, with most agreeing that it was between 85 and 100.

As the year began, residential sales experienced a modest increase, increasing slightly for the first quarter as compared to the previous year’s sales numbers. When the mayor closed the city after COVID began to grip the nation, real estate sales dropped, even though real estate was designated as an essential business. Sales were off 1,415 units as compared to the second quarter of 2019.

In the third and fourth quarter, however, sales rebounded, with fourth quarter sales hitting 12,310, an 18% increase compared to the previous year. This jump allowed the 44,850 sales to eclipse 2019’s 42,356 sales and set the record for the most transactions in a single year.

This is a strange accomplishment as it is almost embarrassing for things to be going so well while death, destruction and economic woes have beset the city.

Somehow, residential real estate numbers continue to grow. There were only 5,722 homes in inventory at the end of December compared with 9,365 in December 2019 and 10,001 in May 2020 when inventory peaked.

To make matters worse, pending sales are continuing to climb in January with 2,622 properties under contract.

There are more homes coming on the market this year so far, and they are being devoured at an alarming rate.

Last week, a house on Snowden Drive in Green Hills came on the market for $550,000 and received scores of offers. While the price will not be known until it closes, one Realtor reported he had offered $616,500 for the home – $66,500 more than list price – and was told the offer that was accepted was much better.

“With inventory at historic lows, now is an excellent time for homeowners to explore selling their homes with a Realtor,” says Brian Copeland, the newly installed president of the Greater Nashville Realtors.

Copeland has been a leading Realtor since his first year in real estate, some 20 years ago, when he won the “Rookie of the Year,” an honor more prestigious than its title. He has since served in leadership roles in the local association, the Tennessee Realtors – he was president in 2017 – and has held multiple leadership roles with the National Association of Realtors.

Copeland is the founder of Doorbell Real Estate and will no doubt serve the Greater Nashville Realtors well as he guides the group through 2021, a year already rife with challenges.

Sale of the Week

Whitland Avenue is a relatively short street in terms of the mass of land it serves, but the historic avenue and its tributary streets form one of the most desirable neighborhoods in all of Nashville. Carden Avenue is on of those streets, and the home located at 202 Carden sold last week for $1.25 million, or $305 per square foot for its 4,100 square feet.

202 Carden Ave

With four bedrooms, three full bathrooms, a half bathroom and a two-car basement garage, the house utilizes every square inch in providing the 4,100 square feet of living space. Its crown jewel, however, is the 15-by-30-foot screened porch overlooking the brilliantly landscaped neighborhood.

The kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms have been updated with all of the bells and whistles required of today’s discerning, house-hungry buyers. The taxes for the property are $8,032 with the property appraised by Metro at $1,032,000.

Mile Wales of Zeitlin Sotheby’s International Realty listed the property that relaxed on the market for 30 days until Trish Woolwine delivered the buyer, who benefited from the upgrades performed by the seller.

Both Wales and Woolwine are longtime veterans of the real estate wars, each with Purple Hearts for the wounds received in the line of duty, and each with kind, giving hearts as they have dedicated their lives to the service of their clients and their community.

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