The Greater Nashville Realtors’ sales statistics for May are positive in what many see as a sluggish residential real estate market in the Nashville area.

Unit sales were up 2% year-over-year, with 3,509. There were 3,436 in May 2023.

Inventory levels were up 14% compared to May 2023, 10,670 this year versus the 9,314 in May 2023. There were 10,419 properties in inventory at the end of April, so the 3,509 May sales did not reduce the inventory. In fact, inventory grew by 251 units.

“This marks highest inventory level we’ve seen since pre-pandemic times, providing buyers more options and more leverage in the current market,” says Kevin Wilson, president of the Greater Nashville Realtors.

Buyer leverage is key to many market segments as the upper-end continues to bear sales fruit.

Last month, 20 homes sold for more than $3 million, compared with 16 in May 2023. Of those 20 that closed last month, there were 12 between $3 million and $4 million, four between $4 million and $5 million, two in the $5 million range with one each in the $6 million and $7 million.

Of the 16 $3 million-plus sales in May 2023, 14 were between $3 million and $4 million, with the other two closed for slightly more than $4 million.

Things are not as rosy at the lower end, with 29 May 2024 sales in the $200,000-$300,000 compared to 45 in May 2023.

As for prices, GNR research shows the median price fell to $499,996, slightly below the $505,000 median price in April for a single-family home, while condos were on the rise, climbing from $349,000 to $351,000.

All said, the market is holding firm on prices and transactions. The 3,509 closed sales in May almost doubled the 1,886 sales in January when the median price for a single-family home was $460,000.

Sale of the Week

West Meade claimed one of the $3 million sales with the house at 6325 Bresslyn selling for $3.3 million or $557 per square foot. The 5,925-square-foot home rests on 1.28 acres in the heart of West Meade.

Listed by Andrea Boswell from Benchmark Realty for the sale price, the house sold immediately before hitting the mainstream market.

The home has five bedrooms, six full bathrooms and two half bathrooms with the mandatory three-car garage, two fireplaces and smart appliances, cameras and thermostats. The residents of the house are intelligent, as well.

Real News

As of Monday of this week, one week removed from real estate legend Bob Parks and his coterie establishing a new firm to house Parks/Village/Pilkerton agents who were not excited to move Compass, there were 142 Realtors at the new firm known as Onward.

Compass had merged with the firm formerly and currently known as Parks.

Depending on whose stats to trust, there were between 1,460 and 1,600 agents at Parks when the merger was announced, and some attrition is to be expected.

Some industry experts expect the number to grow from the current 10% to as high as 20% when the dust settles and the cry of the cicadas dies, which would still make this a record setting merger.

On the real estate lawsuit, the local multiple listing service is currently adopting some of the changes proposed in the settlement, which is already being challenged by some plaintiffs. Set for court approval in November, the settlement seems more of a proposal than a settlement.

Formerly, the MLS listed “compensation” for the various players with an amount for a buyers’ broker, a facilitator, etc. Apparently, that was not playing fair because sellers in some cases did not want to pay buyers’ brokers a fee for their adversarial role in the transaction.

In short, the buyers’ brokers represented the buyers, also known as the people who are giving the sellers the money. Now the sellers’ offer “concessions,” as mandated by the settlement.

Rather than pay the broker for bringing these cash-laden people into the house, they are paying the cash-laden people more cash to buy their houses in some cases. Other times, the buyers’ brokers, with the permission of their buyers, may use those concessions for the commission, a term that is living in infamy.

With the rule change, the real estate agents representing the buyers must have those buyers sign a buyers’ representation agreement before the agent showing them any houses. With that agreement in place, everyone – especially the courts – is happy. In many price ranges, buyer brokerage will suffer.

The commercial real estate brokers are not governed by associations, are more sophisticated and will continue to operate in the wise manner they always have, wherein they appreciate the person who delivers the cash to the closing table.

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