Add The New York Post on Google The Music City party is over for home sellers.
Nashville has quietly become the second-toughest place in America to sell a house, according to a new Redfin report, trailing only Miami and beating out three major Texas metros in the process.
Sellers now outnumber buyers by a staggering 128.8%, giving house hunters more choices, less competition and serious room to haggle.
“Buyers are taking their time these days. There are a significant number of listings on the market, people are taking their time and waiting for the right one,” Aaron Glicken, a Redfin Principal agent based in Nashville, said in the report.
“Buyers feel like they need to get a significant deal. They’re submitting low offers on homes that are already priced well for the market.”
New listings in the metro have jumped 9.4%, dwarfing the national increase of just 0.1%. Homes are also lingering on the market far longer, a median of 78 days compared to 49 days nationwide.
Nationally, sellers outnumbered buyers by an estimated 48.5% in June, meaning the whole country has tilted toward buyers to some degree. But Nashville’s imbalance is nearly triple that national figure.
Redfin agent Kristin Sanchez pointed to a mix of forces reshaping the local market.
“This market is giving homeowners confidence they’ll actually have somewhere to move after selling. Many homeowners with super-low interest rates have delayed life changes for several years. Now, those life events can’t be postponed any longer, so they’re entering the market despite higher mortgage rates,” Sanchez said. “Some sellers recognize that the frenzied appreciation of 2021 and 2022 has leveled off. They’re choosing to sell while home values remain relatively stable rather than trying to perfectly time the market.”
“Many sellers are learning the hard way. They’re turning down early offers because buyers are coming in low, only to realize down the road they’re still getting low offers or need to lower the price,” Glicken said.
The shift marks a dramatic reversal from Nashville’s pandemic-era frenzy, when the city was one of the hottest housing markets in the country.
Home prices climbed just 2.8% year-over-year in June, landing just under $500,000. That’s a sharp cooldown from the roughly 20% annual gains sellers were pocketing a few years ago, back when the typical home in the city sold for under $400,000.
Years of new construction have flooded the metro with inventory, while elevated home prices and mortgage rates have chased off a chunk of would-be buyers, tilting negotiating power firmly toward those still shopping.
Sanchez said she’s still seeing transplants arrive from Florida, California and Chicago, though the wave of New York buyers has thinned out considerably since the pandemic.
Price cuts aren’t the only leverage buyers are using. Closing costs and repair credits have become common bargaining chips too, Sanchez said.
“Many buyers, especially first-time buyers, opt for new construction, where they can get a brand-new home with a super-low mortgage rate and closing-cost assistance,” she said.
Builders are sweetening deals with fixed rates as low as 4.99%, Sanchez said, sometimes paired with temporary rate buydowns. Many sellers, meanwhile, are covering closing costs just to help buyers lower their rates.
In one recent deal, Sanchez helped first-time buyers using a down-payment assistance program land a home for $15,000 under its appraised value, with the sellers covering 100% of closing costs and agreeing to repairs before closing.
“I currently have another buyer under contract for $60,000 under list price right now. A couple of years ago, these same buyers likely would have competed against multiple offers with little negotiating power,” Sanchez said.
With buyers no longer racing the clock, they’re able to shop around and wait for the right fit instead of settling out of fear of losing out.
“Post-pandemic, we were one of the markets where prices skyrocketed and now we’re seeing a correction fueled by higher mortgage rates and lower buyer demand. I do think that prices have corrected enough to bring more buyers to the market than the previous year,” Glicken said.
For sellers, that means the days of naming a price and watching offers roll in are gone. Sanchez said the flood of competing listings has made accurate pricing essential from day one, and sellers should brace for buyers pushing harder on terms than they have in years.
Rising prices have also squeezed out longtime locals, Sanchez said.
“Home prices have risen so much that people who have been here for 10, 15, 20 years can’t afford to buy here anymore,” she said. “Everything has slowed down a bit since housing prices have increased so much.”
Homes that are freshly updated and ready for move-in tend to have an edge, Glicken said.
“The sellers that do upgrades and touch-up work like repairs and paint, tend to sell faster. Buyers today want a move-in-ready home more than ever. They have more choices in today’s market and prices and interest rates are still elevated,” he said.
