Real estate professionals give low down on local market | Local News
Real estate sales in Middle Tennessee, and Williamson County in particular, continued to boom during the COVID-19 pandemic as companies continue to relocate to the area and need commercial space and housing for their employees.
Williamson, Inc. held a two-part panel discussion at its Real Estate Summit Tuesday to help the community better understand what trends will persist after a year and a half in a pandemic.
The summit was sponsored by Williamson Medical Center, Frost Brown Todd Attorneys LLC, and the Williamson County Association of Realtors (WCAR).
“The idea for a real estate summit came about because of the disruption in the market and the country caused by COVID-19,” said Matt Largen, CEO of Williamson, Inc. “As much as we can, we want to investigate which trends are persisting and which are trends likely to go away.
“Williamson County and the Nashville area have seen significant population influx over the past decade, and COVID-19 has accelerated migration into our community. In partnership with WCAR, we would like to find out what is coming next from a residential property perspective. What are buyers looking for in a home and what trends in residential property are likely to be permanent. “
Williamson County is home to 20% of all management jobs in the state of Tennessee. This factor plays a critical role in the country’s economy, and commercial real estate is a key factor in attracting and retaining employees.
Tuesday’s panels were broken into residential properties and commercial offices. Bo Patten, CEO of the Williamson County Association of Realtors, moderated the discussion on the current state of the housing market.
Patten introduced panelists to Lorie Layman, chairman of the board of WCAR and vice president and principal broker at Crye-Leike Realtors; Misty Woodford, elected chairman of the board of directors of WCAR and agent at Daniel-Christian Real Estate, LLC of Franklin; and Jeffrey Caruth, vice president of sales and marketing and principal agent for Willow Branch Homes in Brentwood.
Before the discussion, a video was played with Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist of the National Association of Realtors, sharing stats and his forecast for the market in 2022.
Yun said the strength of the real estate market was surprising.
“There was a price spike in July 2020 and today the market has calmed down,” he said. “If we compare the year’s increase, it’s the second best in 15 years.
“Be prepared for a drop in home sales next year. This is forecast as mortgage rates will rise. To date, the mortgage rate has remained low. Rates will rise to curb inflammation and contain some of the housing demand. “
Layman said she sees many shoppers out of town wanting a change in their lifestyle.
“Move away from property taxes, more property rights and the need for high-speed internet as people can now live where they want because they work from home,” she said.
Caruth spoke about the challenges of missing stocks and supply bottlenecks. He shared an example where he needs 40 garage doors for new homes that he cannot get.
“I have a new community that is opening up and I have a waiting list of 300 people,” he said. “I’ve been in business for 23 years and until two years ago I had never seen an escalation clause. We can’t sell it to you because we don’t know the price. “
Woodford said the average sales price in the county this year was up 31.5% from 2020, and the average price of a home was up 23%.
“We’re going ahead,” she said. “The average price for a house in Brentwood is $ 1.5 million and in Fairview $ 450,000. The challenge is to create jobs so that people can afford life here. ”
The panelists agreed that the number of visitors to the home market is declining while website traffic is increasing. Caruth said 20% of the homes bought this year have not even been seen by the buyer.
“This is not the new normal, this is normal,” Layman said. “People like to work from home, the convenience of shopping online, online shopper consultations and virtual demonstrations is the norm.”
Williamson County’s commercial property rentals are down 20% this year from 2020 – not a shocking number according to the summit’s second panel, given the county is still in a pandemic. It is estimated that by 2022, 80% of offices will work both personal and from home.
Elizabeth McCreary, Williamson, Inc.’s Chief Economic Development Officer, moderated the panel on the state of commercial real estate.
“Williamson County is a rare place in the universe,” she said. “We’re the No. 1 district in Tennessee for commercial real estate.”
The panel included Elam Freeman, founder and director of Ojas Partners; William W. Hastings, Hastings architecture director; Reen Baskin, founding director of Baskin Strategies; and Janet Miller, CEO, leader and partner at Colliers.
For Miller, who leads a team of 70 people at Colliers, a Nashville commercial real estate agency, the journey to remote work has been a grueling journey. Every week she called each employee to inquire about the welfare of their families.
“One of the benefits of COVID was that we learned that life is not work,” she said. “Somebody says to you it will be all right. If you take care of your employees, this component will contribute to success. ”
Baskin said the data shows that “nothing can replace a face-to-face meeting”.
“These face-to-face meetings are necessary,” she said. “We have moved from the ‘we’ space and the ‘less me’ space.”
As Williamson County and the surrounding area continue to grow, partnerships with designers and developers become increasingly important.
The county’s population is expected to grow by 70,000 over the next 10 years, and as more businesses embrace the high quality of life and offerings in Tennessee, businesses and retailers are expected to follow suit.