First GQ called us ‘Nowville,’ then Conde Naste Traveler listed us as a ‘must-visit city.’ Soon after, The New York Times hopped on board, dubbing Nashville the nation’s newest “It City.” Not long after those articles had been published did Nashville make Huffington Post’s list of 20 cities that are ‘must-visits’ in your 20s. These days, Nashville is no stranger to receiving glowing reviews in big time publications. No longer just ‘Music City,’ in more recent times, people are beginning to understand something we have long know about this place we call home: that it is overall just a really cool, unique and awesome place to be.
Join us in our Nashville: The ‘It’ City blog series as we give our top 10 reasons that Nashville is indeed the ‘it’ city that many have dubbed it. This week is week one of our new series! Read on for the first of our 10 reasons that we love Nashville.
How do we love Nashville? Let us count the ways…
Reason #1: Its Booming Real Estate Industry!
Being a real estate company, of course we love how on fire the real estate market has been in recent months! Nashville is one of a handful of U.S. cities that saw a big resurgence in its real estate industry over the past couple of years. According to the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, 2013 saw more than 30,000 homes sold, a number that has not been exceeded since 2007. Most recent home sale stats show that in December, Nashville’s home sales were up more than 13 percent over December 2012, a best for the region since 2006. Similar statistics could be said for nearly every month of 2013 in Nashville, a year that saw real estate numbers hitting new records over and over again.
In late 2013, OwnAmerica, a real estate strategies firm based in New York, ranked Nashville as the No. 12 housing investment market in the country. OwnAmerica uses proprietary methodology for its rankings that emphasizes market stability, economic development and local net yields.
In July 2012, homes were selling so fast it was difficult for buyers to tour properties before they had a contract on them. The average number of days on the market at that time was 70 days, which was noted to be the shortest amount of time for single-family homes to spend on the market since October 2007.
Real estate records being met or exceeded seemed to be a common theme in 2013. In June of 2013, GNAR reported that second-quarter and year-to-date figures were all up more than 20 percent in comparison to the same periods in the previous year. Home prices had peaked, too. The median price for a single-family home was reported to be $205,950 in June 2013. That marked the first time for a median home price to ever exceed $200,000. The previous high up until that point had been a median price of $196,000 back in June 2007.
CNN Money included Nashville in their September 2013 list of “Top 10 markets to buy a rental property,” putting Nashville at No. 8. House flipping has been on the rise in Music City, too. More than 1,200 homes were flipped in Nashville in 2012, a 65 percent increase from the previous year. Of the top 25 markets where flipping houses had the highest returns, profit margins ranged from 8 to 63 percent. Nashville ranked no. 8, with a 35 percent profit margin.
We could go on and on, but it is clear that Nashville’s real estate market has been pretty hot for the past year! Are you ready to buy or sell in Nashville? Contact us today and let us help. And, while you’re at it, take a look at our current Nashville area real estate listings.
Thanks for tuning in to our Nashville: The ‘It’ City blog series! | Next week: Reason #2: The Nationally-Acclaimed Food Scene | Want to stay connected? Like us on Facebook + follow us on Twitter and Instagram. And, as always, check out our current homes for sale in the Nashville area.