Demand for condos soars in Nashville region

Nov 27, 2017

Original story here: http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/homes/2017/11/24/demand-condos-soars-nashville-region/887404001/

New population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show the Nashville metro statistical area added 36,337 people during the one-year stretch that ended July 1, 2016, meaning the region grew by an average of 100 people a day over those 12 months.

Lauren Jacobs bought her condo in downtown Nashville’s Encore building because of its convenient location, lock-and-leave lifestyle and amenities including 24-hour concierge service.

It turned out to be a good investment, as well. Five years later, Jacobs is selling her condo and expects to nearly double her money.

“I’m very pleasantly surprised,” she said.

“I’ve already had people contacting me,” said Williams.

Condos are flying off the shelves across the Nashville region, from lakeside residences in Gallatin’s Foxland Harbor neighborhood to Franklin’s Westhaven and Berry Farms master-planned communities.

Mark Zaleski / For The Tennessean

To meet demand, builders are bringing more to the market. Prices range from $199,000 at Solo Lofts on Dickerson Road and $234,900 at Core Development Services’ planned Segment at Pillow in the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood to more than $1 million at the new 1212 building on the edge of the Gulch.

Developer Bruce McNeilage expects demand for Solo Lofts to mirror Solo East, the condo development at 1118 Litton Ave. in East Nashville.

“At Solo East, we sold 34 condos in two hours,” said McNeilage, a partner in Harpeth Development.

“There is a strong appetite from buyers. Many people can’t afford a house and are willing to live in a smaller space,” he said.

Core’s plans for Segment in Wedgewood-Houston include 26 flats and eight townhomes. The company expects to begin site work next month at the corner of Merritt Avenue and Pillow Street. Village Real Estate service has begun pre-selling residences.

Flats will range from 742 square feet to more than 1,000 square feet. Some will have rooftop decks or balconies.

In Franklin’s Westhaven community, buyers snapped up condos being built by Ford Custom Classic Homes. The company is building 16 residences in a four-story mixed-use building with commercial space on the first floor.

Regent Homes has built 60 condos in Westhaven in five three-story buildings. In Berry Farms on Franklin’s south side, Regent has built 60 and is developing 16 more. Recently listed prices in Berry Farms range from the high $300,000s to $499,175.

On the shore of Old Hickory Lake, 22 condos are under construction in the Foxland Harbor golf community. A total of 77 are planned. Prices range from $355,000 to $775,000 and sizes range from 1,536 to 2,864 square feet.

Price, location and lock-and-leave convenience are the reasons many people choose downtown condos, said Williams, the Exit Realty Elite co-owner. They are especially popular with musicians and as second homes.

“You can go on the road for a month and everything’s fine. You can’t do that with a house,” he said.

Jacobs, who lived at Encore for five years, enjoyed walking to Predators and Titans games, as well as “all the best restaurants.”

She decided to sell her unit after getting married. She purchased the condo, her first home, for $215,000 in 2012. Prices have risen since then and it is currently listed for $409,900.

“I moved back from college and didn’t want a whole house to take care of. In the past years it’s gone up so much. I think it’s just the growth of Nashville,” said Jacobs.

Marabeth Poole, a Realtor with the LCT Team of Parks Realty, said clients often are looking for a lifestyle.

“For someone buying a condo in Nashville right now, it is the perfect time with all of the exciting growth and change attracting people from all over the world to Music City. Living in a condo in downtown Nashville is the perfect location for walking to restaurants, shops, concerts and sporting events. If you travel, it is a quick ride to the airport,” said Poole.

“For an active, busy life, a condo in downtown Nashville is the perfect solution for easy living, fun night life with great amenities,” she said.

By Bruce McNeilage 14 Dec, 2023
In my interview with Seana Smith & Brad Smith from Yahoo Finance today we discussed single-familiy rental rates and my thoughts on mortgage rates going into 2024.
By Bruce McNeilage 14 Dec, 2023
Owner's equivalent rental prices rose 0.5% in November , a pervasive factor in US inflation as limited housing inventory continues to squeeze homebuyers out of tightened real estate markets. Kinloch Partners CEO Bruce McNeilage joins Yahoo Finance Live to weigh in on the outlook for renters and home purchases in 2024. Home prices are "not going to go down, that's for sure. And mortgage rates might go down, but if the cost of a house goes up $10-20,000, it's a wash," McNeilage states. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live. 
By Bruce McNeilage 08 Nov, 2023
Original Story can be found here: https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/ Charlene and Timothy Stratton traded in their 4-acre Illinois ranch for a rental home in the Nashville suburb of Spring Hill and, so far, they love the new low-maintenance lifestyle. Like a growing contingent of Americans, they chose to rent a single-family house rather than buy a home or rent in multifamily apartment buildings. "We lived in the country all of our lives with horses and cows," said Timothy Stratton, a retired airline mechanic. "But we wanted to rent because we’re looking at our age. We did a lot of research and decided this will work out for the time being." Families like the Strattons increasingly want the mobility and limited commitment of a rental, with the privacy and space of a single-family home. Meanwhile, many families are also being pushed out of the tight housing market. Housing affordability plummeted to historic lows this year, with only 23% of U.S. listings in April considered affordable to households earning $75,000 or less, according to the National Association of Realtors. In response, real estate investors are betting heavily on new rental properties and, increasingly, on standalone units — especially in the South. More than 61,000 fully and semi-detached single-family rental units are under construction in Southern states as of September. In comparison, 28,000 units are in production in the Western U.S., the next-busiest region, according to RealPage Market Analytics. Those units include single-family homes, townhomes, rowhomes, quadruplexes and duplexes. Single-family rental communities are increasingly concentrated in subdivisions with on-site maintenance, rather than in homes nestled in for-sale housing neighborhoods. The Nashville market has the ninth-highest number of in-construction, build-to-rent homes with 2,745 units in the pipeline. Phoenix tops the list with 21,676 units underway, a RealPage analysis in August found. "Construction isn't going fast enough in Nashville. If they built four or five new build-to-rent communities, they would fill them up immediately," said Doug Ressler, the business intelligence director of Yardi Matrix, a real estate data firm. "We really expect Nashville to continue to see growth here." Rent vs. own: 'More house for your money' Charlene Stratton filled the three-bedroom house with festive seasonal crafts and artwork she creates in her home studio. Renting isn't perfect, but there are real perks — like, when the air conditioner stalled on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of summer, the landlord offered to put them in a hotel until maintenance could fix it that Monday. "When something goes wrong, we just call them," Charlene Stratton said. "It's great." The Strattons live at DerryBerry Estates, one of the first of its kind, built in 2019 by Kinloch Parners. The 34-home community sits on former pastures with views of Spring Hill's rolling green landscape and rose bushes in the front yard. Local development companies like Kinloch Partners of Nashville and Franklin-based Chartwell Residential and Barlow Builders have made stakes in the industry. "In 2008, I had no competition. Now there are six or seven players in the market," said Kinloch Partners Co-founder Bruce McNeilage, who sold much of his inventory to American Homes 4 Rent and expanded to South Carolina. "We're 99% leased out." McNeilage said he prioritizes creating a calm, supportive community with competitive prices. Rents at DerryBerry Estates ranged from $2,300 to $2,600 for homes with three to five bedrooms in September. "People are starting families later in life and COVID-19 has allowed people to work out of their houses so people are moving farther out," McNeilage added. "Housing prices are going up and interest prices just doubled. You can get more house for your money if you get farther out." Housing in Nashville area: 'Can't build them fast enough' Chartwell Residential, a local real estate firm specializing in multifamily apartments, is now building out its first single-family rental home community. https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/ https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/ https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/ https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/ https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/ https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/
By Bruce McNeilage 15 Jul, 2023
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — High prices and high-interest rates have kept many from buying a single-family home in a quiet suburban neighborhood. But what if you could rent one? Developers say they are seeing a big demand for build-to-rent communities. Upon first glance at the DerryBerry Estates subdivision, you might assume the single-family homes are for sale, but they are not—each one is a rental. “People are very happy with what we are providing,” said Bruce McNeilage, CEO/co-founder, Kinloch Partners. Bruce McNeilage built DerryBerry Estates in Spring Hill a few years ago. He saw some families struggling to afford a single-family home in the suburbs, but still craving that lifestyle. “Their kids are getting older, they want to be in good schools, you want to ride a bike around, and you just can’t do that in an apartment complex.” No sharing walls at DerryBerry Estates, or Fairview Station, the other rental home community Kinloch Partners built in western Williamson County. DerryBerry Estates subdivision has 41 single-family homes with 3 and 4 bedrooms and rents in the $2,300 to $2,500 range; and all the trappings of the suburban lifestyle. “They have front porches, they have covered back porches, two-car garage. They have all the amenities and appointments on the interior that one would want in a house for sale, but these are available for rent.” Who would be interested in an all-rental community? McNeilage said his tenants are often folks new to town testing out the neighborhood, young families who can’t afford just yet to buy, those looking for a low-maintenance lifestyle, and senior citizens, which make up 10% of his tenants. “They don’t want to live in an apartment and share walls with someone. They want to live in a single-family home in the suburbs to probably be real close to their grandchildren.” McNeilage has a couple of rental communities in Middle Tennessee, as well as out of state. And with housing prices staying high, he sees the popularity of rental communities sticking around “I could build 100 houses. I could build another 100 houses. I really have a demand that I can’t keep up with.” McNeilage said that his tenant turnover is lower than an apartment complex. People will stay in his homes 3-4 years on average, but for apartment complexes, it’s 1.5 years. 
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