Last week, Greater Nashville Realtors hosted its annual economic summit, Nashonomics, at Trevecca University. This is a signature event that offers our members valuable insights into both the national and local housing markets as well as the most recent data driving our local economy.
Nearly 500 Realtors registered to hear from this year’s impressive lineup of speakers that included Jeff Hite, Chief Economic Development Office, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research, National Association of Realtors, and Nashville Mayor, Freddie O’Connell.
If you have been a resident of Middle Tennessee during the past decade you have witnessed the rapid growth and transformation of our city and surrounding areas. And if you are like me and take pride in seeing the Nashville area among the top contenders of national “Best places to live, work, and play” lists, then you are going to love the content that was shared by the area chamber. Since early last year, the region has added over 20,000 jobs, in 2023 an average of 86 people a day relocated to the region, unemployment is near record lows at 2.2%, and we continue to see corporate relocation and expansion announcements regularly. Additionally, Nashville now contributes about 40% to Tennessee’s GDP, further solidifying our city as Tennessee’s economic engine.
Nashville has also been ranked as one of the top real estate markets in the nation. Dr. Yun highlighted that home prices have jumped 60% statewide since the COVID pandemic and that median price nationally for single-family homes reached their highest last month. This certainly rings true for the Greater Nashville area where median single family home prices topped $500,000 for the first time combined with an 11% increase in the number of closings. Dr. Yun noted that interest rates and limited inventory pose challenges for middle-class buyers, but there is currently some recovery in consumer sentiment. He added that our market (Greater Nashville) is outperforming the rest of the country.
Rounding out the afternoon, Mayor O’Connell spoke about the successes of our city, but did not shy away from acknowledging that with tremendous growth, Nashville faces new challenges. On the top of the mayor’s agenda is Affordable Housing and Transportation. For the remainder of the hour, the mayor laid out his vision for a comprehensive transportation improvement plan that allows Nashvillians to “choose how they move” and the accompanying referendum on the November ballot. The mayor left the summit with a full commitment of support from Greater Nashville Realtors for his initiative to secure dedicated funding for transit.
To view the speaker sessions, click here.
