90% of Markets See Price Gains in QTR4

NAR data shows home prices finished strong in 2024. Property owners are getting richer as home prices prove resilient against lower home sales. Nearly 90% of metro areas registered home price increases in the final quarter of 2024, according to the latest housing data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Fourteen percent of the 226 metro areas that NAR tracks, posted double-digit price gains, up from the 7% in the third quarter. "Record high home prices and the accompanying housing wealth gains are definitely good news for property owners," says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

End of Year Sales Data Signals Confidence

Final numbers for 2024 from the Greater Nashville Realtors (NAR) have been published and indicate the market remains stable. The data indicates 33.935 homes were sold in the region, compared to the 33,429 closings in 2023. Total sales were up one percent compared to 2023 while home sales hit 2842 closing for December according to data provided by NAR. This figure is up 15 percent from 2463 closing reported for the same period last year where 4th quarter closing were 8250 for the Middle Tennessee area. The total is a 9 percent increase from the 7543 closings during the 4th quarter of 2023. "The real estate market in Middle TN continued to show resilience, as evidence by the one percent increase in total sales for 2024." said Collin Wainwright, Greater Nashville Realtors 2025 President.

Tentative Market Following Election

Historically, home sales temporarily slow following a presidential election. Potential home Buyers become a nit nervous about making a decision as significant as a home purchase during election time. It's normal around this time that home sales slow.

Market is Hopeful with Fed Rate Cut

A modest improvement in housing affordability may motivate more home buyers to make a move. Pending home sales rose slightly in August as lower mortgage rates provided some motivation to prospective Buyers to more seriously consider a move.

The One Constant is … Change

So much continues to happen in Real Estate. In addition to the settlement between the federal counts and the National Association of Realtors, technology and new models of buying and selling homes, the real estate industry continues to experience seismic shifts of how business is conducted. Some of the change was mandated by the courts, and a large part of the change has to do with the technology available to assist both Sellers and Buyers.

The Real Estate World has Changed

I enjoy sharing current market conditions, personal stories about helping clients and trends for the future of Real Estate. This month, I will mix information that enlightens readers about all three categories. Let me encourage you to review this so that you will be an informed customer.

Change, Change, Change

Change is a constant of life, even though as one ages we often wish that change would be less constant or, at least, at a slower pace. As readers of this newsletter know, Phillip and I made a big change just a year ago as we sold our home of 20+ years and moved to a condominium. The picture is of our "new " back year where we often go to met up with neighbors and share an afternoon libation.

Home Prices Have Reached a Milestone

The median sale price for US homes hit a record of $383,725 during the four weeks ending April 21, which is up more than 5% from a year earlier according to new data available. This increase comes even as the supply of homes has also gone up, with 10.2% more new listings compared to the same period last year.

A Seismic Shift for Real Estate

Most readers are aware of the significant lawsuit settlement that will change the course of real estate going forward as it relates to commission structures. For decades the procedure has been within the realtor information system (locally known as RealTracs), that a form field is displayed where listing agents working on behalf of Sellers indicate the amount of commission a Seller would provide to a Buyer agent.

The Future of Real Estate is Changing

Like many areas of our life, the real estate business is undergoing drastic changes with advances intechnology. Many in my profession, including myself, are learning new ways of conducting businessand using technology to our advantage. It seems to me that earlier models for real estate are beingchallenged, even driven, by advances in technology and online information. Some are even predictingthat individuals would be buying a home online without using an agent. My response is “Buying ahouse is not like buying a car or booking a trip.” I think people will continue to use agents to buyhomes and I still believe a house is not a commodity. If I am booking a flight to Las Vegas, I know mychoices are mainly a couple of different carriers and varying schedules. Often, I try to book on South-west Airlines due to typically cheaper flights and often direct flights to many cities. Or a simplesearch on several carriers shows me several options of departure/arrival times, direct flight or layo-vers, and the process is fairly simple. However, when booking flights to Europe, looking for easy con-nection flights from Nashville with various transportation departure/arrival times, I would be muchmore likely to use a knowledgeable travel agent.

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