Nashville housing market: Everything you need to know

Internationally recognized for its music scene, Nashville is a culturally rich city that’s also home to a thriving and diversified economy, a vibrant culinary landscape and year-round professional sports. Its population grew so steadily between 2010 and 2020 — 10 percent more than the national average — that the Johns Hopkins 21st Century Cities Initiative published a report entitled “Finding the Next Nashville.” If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home in Music City, here’s what to know about the Nashville housing market.

Nashville housing market overview

According to data from Redfin, Nashville home prices peaked in May 2022 after seeing steady growth for years. They have gone down a bit since, but it’s a very slight year-over-year decline of 1.3 percent from March 2022 to March 2023.

However, days spent on the market have increased significantly in the past year, and the volume of homes sold is down. More than 15 percent of March sales went for over list price, which is great but still represents a steep 41 point drop since last year. Here’s a snapshot of the Nashville market by-the-numbers.

Nashville housing trends and stats

Should you buy or sell in the Nashville housing market?

With mortgage rates still running high, homebuyers are feeling the pinch in Nashville and throughout the country. But sales volume in Music City is down more than 8 percent year-over-year, per Redfin, so it’s not exactly a hot market for sellers, either.

If you’re a home seller

Though your property may spend more time on the market than it would have a year ago, the overall growth of the Nashville market may work to home sellers’ advantage. Prices are still relatively high here — the median for a single-family home is close to $100,000 higher than the nationwide median.

However, Redfin data shows that nearly 23 percent of homes that sold in March underwent a price drop before being snapped up. So it’s crucial to understand how much your home is worth before you put it on the market. A real estate agent can put together a comparative market analysis to help you come up with the perfect listing price. Local agents know their markets well and can assess conditions specific to your neighborhood, which can also help you determine whether the time is right to sell now, or wait.

If you’re a homebuyer

Mortgage rates may be prohibitively high for some, but the Nashville market (like so many others) has cooled slightly over the last year, giving buyers who are still in the game more leverage. And inventory increased in March versus February, per Greater Nashville Realtors, so you may have more options to choose from as well.

Getting preapproved for a mortgage will help you gauge your budget by telling you how much money a lender is likely to be willing to loan you. Bankrate’s affordability calculator can also help you determine how much you can afford to spend on a home. And regardless of your home-shopping budget, it’s smart to get a sense of the overall cost of living in Nashville as well. What you’ll need to spend on essentials like transportation and food can have a big impact on what you can spend on housing.

Nashville housing market predictions

With mortgage rates still high, inventory still relatively tight and fears of a recession still looming, 2023 is looking to be a slower year for the housing market. Consumers shouldn’t expect the market to crash, though. While home values may ease from their surge over the last few years, experts anticipate more of a market correction than a dramatic drop.

Given the increase in Nashville properties’ average days spent on the market, along with more homes dropping their prices, buyers are likely to have more leverage in 2023 than they would have had a year ago.

Find a Nashville real estate agent

Working with a trusted real estate agent can benefit both homebuyers and sellers. Local agents are experts in the market, with a thorough understanding of Nashville’s neighborhoods and unique market conditions. An agent can help buyers find the best home they can afford, and help sellers bring in the best price possible for their listing. The Nashville market has been especially nuanced in the first quarter of 2023, and a local agent can help you to understand what is happening locally when you’re ready to buy or sell.

FAQs

• Are home prices dropping in Nashville?

  Not exactly. According to the Greater Nashville Realtors, residential properties in Davidson County, where Nashville is located, sold at a median price of $474,945 for the first quarter of 2023. This is down slightly from the median price in the fourth quarter of 2022, but up slightly year-over-year. Redfin data shows that median home prices are down from a peak in the spring of 2022, but have risen month-over-month from January through March of this year.
  

• Is Nashville a buyer’s or seller’s market?

  It’s hard to say. Prices are relatively high, which would indicate an edge to sellers, but sales volume has slowed, inventory is on the uptick and high mortgage rates are keeping many would-be buyers in wait-and-see mode. Buyers who are still on the hunt have more leverage now than they would have this time last year, but circumstances are short of an actual buyer’s market.