November sales numbers from the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors show the inevitable has happened – November 2015 sales are less than November 2014.

The explanation is simple: When there is no inventory, sales are stymied. Couple low inventory that with the implementation of the new TRID regulations and we have a slight slowdown.

Year-to-date closings stand at 33,679, a 6.9 percent increase compared to last year’s 30,431, and there are more sales pending than there were at this time last year, many of which are TRID-forced carryovers.

If only the inventory would increase, sales would “fly skyward like the down from a thistle,” as Clement C. Moore might say.

Yet sellers will not sell due to the concerns that they have nowhere to go, a problem reminiscent of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. If homeowners knew of homes that better suited their needs, they would sell and move, hence providing inventory. But since there is little inventory, there will be none created.

On a positive note, TRID is working its way through the maze, and lenders and title companies are becoming accustomed to the red tape allowing things to move along at a snails’ paces. In a few months, no one will know the difference.

So, even then, we will ask why. Why was an entire industry slapped with hundreds of millions of expense, causing hundreds of thousands of consumers to be inconvenienced?

Maybe that note was not entirely positive, but this is: Clement C. Moore, the author of “A Visit from St. Nicholas” – the poem better known as “The Night Before Christmas” – was mentioned earlier in this column. Many columnists in various publications choose to follow the meter and rhyme scheme of the poem and write about current trends in their respective fields.

I shall not do that – hold your applause – as the work is much too wonderful to bastardize it in that manner.

Interestingly, and here is the real estate connection, Clement C. Moore was one of the first successful real estate developers in New York. His wife inherited an estate called Chelsea on the west side of Manhattan, above Houston Street.

Moore was anti-development and opposed the taxes being imposed on landowners in New York to incorporate the grids that now comprise the street system, complaining that even the tyrants in England would never impose such a tax.

After paying the taxes and observing the streets, he cashed in and amassed great wealth by subdividing the property. He did donate a large portion to the Episcopal Church and later became a professor at the Seminary.

“A Visit from St. Nicholas” is a must read for anyone who appreciates the English language.

At this point, I will make like “dry leaves that before the hurricane fly when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.”

Sale of the Week

The home located at 1907 Benjamin Street – and half-mile north of Shelby Park – recently sold before it hit the market, as most homes do in the Eastwood Neighbors area.

When shopping in Eastwood, buyers need to ask themselves one question: “Do I feel lucky?” If not, head on to another area as what sellers are doing to buyers in this neighborhood is criminal.

Thomas Williams of Tarkington and Harwell, LLC was the listing agent and was the only agent involved in the sale of the 3,609-square-foot house, which closed for $750,000 or $207 per square foot.

Built by the Paragon Group, Williams, who plays Santa Claus for children during the Christmas season, noted the house has “upgraded appliances and designer selections.” Even though the buyer was not represented, Williams was no Dirty Santa, throwing in an Energy Star 3.0 certification.

With five bedrooms, three full baths and two more half baths, there is ample space to raise a passel of youngsters for Williams to treat to his Clausian experience. As he does in real estate and the culinary world, as well, Williams is an astute student of all things toys and appears at Christmas parties, where he poses for pictures and kibitzes with the kids about the American Girl fashions and the new Star Wars merchandise, as well as the latest technological gameware.

The house at 1907 Benjamin Street would cause the merry old elf to log double time as there is a studio apartment over the garage that is so well lit that it gives the lustre of midday to objects below even in the darkest of nights.

Anyone in need of a real Santa, or Realtor Santa, can reach this St. Nick at [email protected]. He may even get your daughter that secret house she has always wanted.

Richard Courtney is a Realtor with Christianson, Patterson, Courtney, and Associates and can be reached at [email protected].