NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — If buying a home in the Nashville area feels out of reach right now, a new poll shows an overwhelming majority of residents agree.
A Vanderbilt poll found 82% of respondents say they cannot afford to buy a house in Davidson County. The poll highlighted other concerns, showing only 36% of residents plan to buy a house in the county, and 79% believe Nashville’s population is growing too quickly.
How we got here
Nashville real estate agent Christie Wilson said area home prices first started soaring during the pandemic. "You hear it from everybody, it doesn’t matter really if you’re a first-time buyer, a move-up buyer," Wilson said.
"Lower interest rates started the whole drive. Nashville is such a vibrant place to live, that with so many people coming here, clearly it became a supply and demand issue, and that lack of supply drove up houses," Wilson added.
Those home prices have remained high, and now high interest rates have made them even more unobtainable for many buyers. "So that divide has really caused an affordability issue for so many Nashvillians, and it’s a problem," Wilson said.
With interest rates remaining high, Wilson does not see the problem changing anytime soon. "Right now, prices have dipped a little but overall are remaining flat. I don’t see anything on the horizon that will drop our prices in Nashville," Wilson said.
Because of the war with Iran, many economists do not anticipate a meaningful interest rate cut anytime soon.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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