High-end sales disguise area’s October sales swoon

(As seen in the 11/18/22 Ledger column)

Nashville-area home sales for October were astonishingly bad – or so it seems – Greater Nashville Realtors data reveals. Closings fell from 4,047 in October 2021 to 2,824 for October 2022, a 30% drop. That’s the largest decline since 2007 when sales fell 27%.

A plunge like this might lead some to think the sky is falling. So why does the report state prices are “remaining strong?” Turns out the Realtors group isn’t simply trying to put lipstick on a real estate pig.

The Realtors’ numbers, which include Williamson, Robertson, Sumner, Rutherford, Cheatham and Montgomery counties, shows the median price in October for a single-family home was $478,500, compared with $429,900 last year.

For condominiums, the median price in 2021 was $295,990 versus $346,500 this year.

And now for the kicker: Inventory was up 90%.

So let’s summarize: Transactions are down 30%; inventory is up 90% and prices are on the rise. It makes no sense. But a look at high-end sales reveals why and how.

In ZIP code 37205, an area that includes Belle Meade, West Meade and Richland-West End, there have been 175 sales of more than $1 million year-to-date, with the highest sales being $11.3 million. At this point last year, there were only 167, with the highest sale weighing in at $7 million.

In the Green Hills postal code of 37215, there have been 255 sales of $1 million-plus with a high of $18 million. There were an identical 255 $1 million-plus sales through October, the highest in 2021 was $10 million.

Green Hills also this year has had sales of $13.5 million, $10.633 million, $8.6 million, $8.25 million, $7.8 million and $7.49 million.

During the same period last year, runner-up to the $10 million sale was a $6.3 million sale.

Clearly, the 2022 money is flowing into the upper-end housing market, where interest rate increases don’t carry the same sting.

In Sylvan Park, there have been 62 houses sell for more than $1 million this year with a high of $4.5 million. The same period last year saw 34 sell in that range with a high sale of $2,599 million.

In 37221 – Hillsboro/ West End and Hillsboro Village – there have been 71 $1 million-plus sales with a high of $3.79 million. There were 61 last year sales with a $2.85 million cap.

The only neighborhood to buck this trend was Oak Hill/Forest Hills with 32 high-end sales year to date versus 48 last year at this time. The high last year was $6.75 million, and this year’s high so far has been $6.3 million.

That is how prices rise when unit sales tumble and inventory soars.

In East Nashville, the trend continues with 66 high-end sales this year with a high sale of $2.25 million. There were 19 in that range last year with a high at $2.5 million.

There have been three sales of $2 million-plus in East Nashville this year compared to one in 2021.

Sale of the Week

Nashville is a community steeped in history, and the country music industry and its heritage often serve as a magnet for those outside the industry. The house at 1101 Porter Road in the Eastwood Neighbors area of East Nashville lured Raeanne Rubenstein to Nashville in 1975.

Rubenstein was well-known in photography circles, having met Andy Warhol in the 1960s. Their friendship resulted in dozens of images of the iconic artist.

Later, she gained access to performances at the famed Fillmore East, where she shot Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and scores of others who played the venerable venue. Her work there would lead her to photograph John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono during her New York days.

But it was during her visit to Nashville that she fell in love with country music and began to shoot all of the stars of the day, from Johnny Cash to Tammy Wynette to the Killer himself, Jerry Lee Lewis, who invited her to tour his jet. Once inside, he had the pilot take off, and Rubenstein had yet another story as she flew into parts unknown.

In 1997, she purchased 1101 Porter Road for $123,000. It remained in the family until her death in 2019 and sold for $400,000. Last week, the house sold for $1.25 million. That would have bought quite a bit of film and a camera or two.

The history of the home was not lost on listing agent Grace Wagenman of Mission Real Estate.

“If houses could tell stories, this one would have quite the tales to tell,” she wrote. Wagenman described it as a “Queen Anne craftsman home” and noted historic details were preserved where possible.

The home includes a 48-inch Bertazzoni range and integrated appliances, Wagenman noted, along with heart-of-pine floors, transom windows, 11-foot ceilings and a clawfoot tub. With four bedrooms, three full bathrooms and one half bath, the home totals 2,867 square feet.

That’s $436 per square foot.

Allyson Woolsey, a real estate celebrity in her own right, represented the buyer of this piece of Nashville history. Woolsey hails from PARKS, the firm formerly known as Bob Parks Realty.

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