Growing up in Nashville, I’ve watched the city expand and evolve. I remember how excited I was when the Tennessee Titans moved here in 1997 and a year later, the Predators began their first season at Bridgestone, putting Nashville on the national map. Working in the real estate industry for over 25 years, I’ve also watched the housing market experience peaks and valleys. I’ve seen areas like the Gulch, Germantown, Inglewood and the Nations explode with new housing and the downtown area thrive with commercial properties popping up every week.
Much like the city of Nashville, the real estate industry is ever-changing with trends and challenges evolving every day.
For example, leading up to the housing bubble of 2008, we saw an oversupply of single-family houses for sale where mortgage lenders inevitably ran out of qualified buyers. In Nashville and growing cities across the country, we’re now experiencing a different problem: a lack of inventory with record low-interest rates and an abundance of qualified buyers. The current state of this red-hot market has left friends and clients asking me the same questions: Is the market healthy? When will there be another crash?
From my point of view, the current housing market is in good shape with no signs of slowing down. However, the market will eventually revert to trend, and if we want to avoid another housing bubble, it’s crucial that the city and private entities begin collaborating to deal with one of the most pressing challenges facing the city: affordable housing.
With Nashville being one of the fastest-growing metros in the nation, companies like Oracle, AllianceBernstein and Amazon will continue moving offices here. With the job market expanding, more high-skilled workers will make the move here to fill those roles. The workers will be looking to purchase homes and the companies they work for will be looking to fill commercial space. As the demand for space increases, inventory drops and the result is a lack of affordable housing, making a public-private partnership evermore pertinent.
The most effective way for this type of partnership to be beneficial for all who call Nashville home and the city to thrive is by investing funds into affordable housing, something that I’ve been working on in the state’s two major metropolitan areas.
In Memphis, where I own a commercial property of apartment buildings, I’ve partnered with Catholic Charities, a public-private partnership that is bringing solutions to our affordable housing problem. Catholic Charities and the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), which is located next door, work alongside each other to house veterans. As a commercial real estate agent, I have the available space to provide housing, the federal government provides the funds and the non-profit provides the people. This is an example of a true public-private partnership providing effective solutions to the nationwide affordable housing issue.
As our state continues to grow and evolve, the housing market will continue to change alongside it. Trends will come and go, but we know for certain that with decreasing growth, space and inventory, the demand goes up. Rather than avoiding the inevitable, developers and property owners should team up to create a place that works for all while making our cities thrive.
Waddell Wright, CPM®, CCIM is a licensed real estate professional with 25 years of experience. He has expertise in land acquisition, analysis, entitlement, development, construction, leasing, and exit strategies for commercial, residential, and mixed-use properties. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at Greater Nashville REALTORS® and is a senior vice president of the Institute of Real Estate Management.
