May 2020 – Market Update

We made it to Summer! Spring is gone and summer is here. Things are heating up, the temperatures and the Real Estate Market alike. 

May rang in a month of changes. We started in quarantine but by month’s end we saw signs of normalcy as businesses and restaurants began to open up. Restrictions were lifted, and unemployment did not hit the numbers that many had predicted. Although the effects of COVID-19 have been tremendous and devastating to many over the course of March, April and May, the Middle Tennessee Real Estate market seemed to weather the storm with less damage than many expected. 

What did we see in May for Real Estate? Across the board, home values remained strong but total closed sales were down. That is being driven by two things: an inventory shortage and the hesitation among some buyers in early spring as they navigated their work and the virus. However by month’s end, Pending Sales were up significantly in most counties. Williamson County saw a 32% increase in Pending Sales for May of 2020 over May of 2019, Sumner 38%, Rutherford 91% and Maury 49%. Although Davidson County monthly year over year was down a little bit, each week they are trending higher and higher with more pending sales. This tells us that as the virus restrictions lessened, home showings and contract writing increased. People are ready to mix, mingle and buy some houses!

Inventory is another big factor in our market that drives values. We know that as supply decreases and demand increases, the value of the product will rise. We are watching that happen now in Middle Tennessee. The inventory drop was significant in many counties for May, for example Williamson County saw a 29% decrease in inventory from 2019 to 2020, while in other counties like Maury there was no significant change in total homes for sale. Because of this, we saw that the value of homes remained the same or slightly increased across the board in May. We anticipate strong value growth over the next year.

As we recap and look forward to the future, we saw pending sales increase, days on market remain incredibly low, and inventory dropped in May year over year. All of these things are trending toward a really strong Summer and Fall for the Middle Tennessee Real Estate Market.