All economic signals point to ... something? anything?

Friday, February 10, 2023, Vol. 47, No. 7

1030 17th Ave S #401

Interest rates are dropping, the job market is spewing higher than expected numbers and some of the financial experts continue to talk of the looming recession. Apparently, the Federal Reserve is content with the fruits of its labor, and the most recent increase was a quarter of a point versus the 0.75 hikes levied last year.

Others in the world of finance feel the Fed will continue to raise rates in the 0.25 range, and those hikes will stop the recession that has been seemingly been brewing for a year.

Veteran mortgage lender john Morrissey of Tower Community Bank is quoiting 6.5% on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage feels that rates will remain the same for the near future.

Morrissey says the prime rate is 7.75% with mortgages already 1.25% below prime, supporting his theory that rate will remain the same. The increase in jobs in January gave pause to the Feds as the economy continues it robust pace.

Meanwhile, inventory in the Nashville market is shrinking again, with owners awaiting green grass and blooming flowers before listing. At least that’s what Realtors keep telling themselves.

Sale of the Week

Developers have raised the curtain on Music Row with the closings at the Malvern on 17th Avenue South. They went on hold in May and closed upon completion. But as everyone on Music Row knows, a hold is no guarantee because “It ain’t final till it’s vinyl.”

However, these deal were actually cut and are now being recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds. Tristan Kinsley, who is no slouch when it comes to writing, describes the development as “Nashville’s newest boutique condo building in high design, quality materials, privacy, size and locations.” The acoustics would be amenable to have a recording session in the property.

The builder booked the A-team for the construction tuneup as the condo features wide plank, oak floors, marble countertops and backsplashes, tambour white oak wall paneling and Fiori Di Bosco wall tiles in the seven-unit complex. Selling for $3.2 million with 3,657 square feet, three bedrooms, three full baths and one half bath, the condos would quality for triple platinum if they were long-playing records.

The $875 price per square foot ranks as the No. 1 price for a Music Row property and opens the gates for copycat acts to follow the formula created by its developers.

First, they must learn the nuances of the traffic flow and should take a lesson from the highly regarded and worshipped songwriter and record company executive Thom Schuyler and his song “16th Avenue.”

Schuyler pays homage to the heritage of Music Row writing:

“It looks so uneventful

So quiet and discreet

But a lot of lives were changed

Down on that little one-way street

’Cause they walked away from everything

Just to see a dream come true.

So God bless the boys who make the noise

On 16th Avenue”

The late Bruce Burch, T. Graham Brown and Verlon Thompson parodied the song and wrote “It ain’t right to make a left on 16th Avenue.”

And, of course, the new developers who hope to change their lives on the one-way streets must familiarize themselves with the art on the Row. In referring to the Alan LeQuire’s magnificent masterpiece Musica, songwriter Lee Thomas Miller penned these words:

“At the birthplace of song on beloved Music Row

“There’s a picturesque place where a statue should go.

It could be Harlan Howard or the great Bill Monroe

Why they chose naked giants, we’d all like to know.”

Tristan Kinsley, who hails from Compass RE and listed the property, knows all about the dancing, naked giants and the little one-way street. He had a co-writer, or co-listing agent, in Geoffrey Semyak, also of Compass RE.

Joni Miller represented the buyer and loudly proclaims she is with PARKS. All uppercase.

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