Area sales were down 16% in 2023, 2nd straight drop

(As seen in the 1/12/24 Ledger column)

There were 16% fewer home sales in the Nashville area in 2023 compared to 2022, statistics from The Greater Nashville Realtors, now led by newly elected president Kevin Wilson, reveal.

“The median single-family home and condo prices remained steady” Wilson says, in spite of the drop in sales. The report also shows November’s sales were at 2,383, while December registered 2,463 closed sales, showing an upswing.

Inventory fell 13%, dropping from 10,045 in November to 8,727 at the end of December. In addition to stronger closed sales numbers over last month, pending sales increased. There were 1,462 such sales at the close of 2022 and 1,704 at the close of 2023.

2023 was a year defined by the “highest interest rates that we have seen in more than 20 years,” Wilson adds. As a result, sales in the area dropped for the second consecutive year.

In 2021, residential sales for the Greater Nashville area soared to 47,172, then dropped in 2022 to 36,265 before falling to 33,429 last year.

With mortgage interest rates descending, and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Research Center announcing that on average 98 new residents per day moved to Nashville last year – and that trend seems to be continuing in to 2024 – sales should increase in 2024.

One factor that could slow sales would be deceasing inventory. Buyers cannot purchase properties that are not for sale, and fewer homeowners put heir houses on the market during the winter months.

Sale of the Week

Historic Edgefield, a neighborhood located off Shelby Avenue in East Nashville, has homes that were built in the 1800s. The house at 805 Boscobel Street barely makes that list, having been built in 1899. That according to listing agents Edward O’Day and Christie Wilson, both of the Wilson Group Real Estate Services, a group that has resisted the trend to change its name to WILSON, a refreshing holdout.

When new restaurants abounded in the early part of this century, there were names like Taste, Flyte, Etch, Husk and, later, proper names. Josephine, Adele, June and Folk could have been named for humans who walked the earth.

Sadly, Josephine has gone the way of fan favorite Rotier’s. Soon, Sylvan Park staple McCabe’s Pub also is headed to the great diner in the sky.

The real estate firms followed suit with PARKS and VILLAGE, dropping several words each in their names. They merged anyway and also grabbed Pilkerton, so now PARKs it is.

Compass laid off the all uppercase, while eXp went with the X in the middle and is not to be confused with Exit.

Then there are firms like Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Woodmont Realty and Zeitlin Sotheby’s International Realty, both incorporating franchise names with historic Nashville real estate firms. Some retained the names of current owners such as French King and Fridrich and Clark.

Edward O’ Day partnered with Christie Wilson, the company’s president and CEO, to list 805 Boscobel Street for $999,000 and sold it in a couple of days with Sean Shariati of Reliant Realty ERA Powered – there’s another real estate firm name for the books – representing the buyer for this property,

The 3,516-square-foot home sold for $284 per square foot. It has 11-foot ceilings and nine and a-half foot pocket doors, says O’Day says, who inhabits not far from Boscobel and should know something about historic homes.

The home has a non-historic six-burner range and Sub-Zero refrigerator. There are several disclosures unique to the house, such as “Chandeliers in front room and main floor bedrooms are not connected to electricity and are decorative only.”

O’Day and Wilson also described the front porch light as “decorative only.” Thomas Edison had moved to Menlo Park in 1876, and this house was built in 1899, so electricity apparently had not found its way to 805 Boscobel at that time, at least on the front porch and two downstairs bedrooms.

It’s described as an Eastlake-style Victorian, an architectural style developed by the British architect Charles Eastlake, by the listing agents. The house includes a wraparound porch and side porch on the lot measuring 50 feet by 175 feet.

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