Home prices are falling in Middle TN, but that doesn’t mean your home is worth less – here’s why

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — For the first time in years, average home prices in Middle Tennessee have fallen, according to data from Realtracs and Realtor.com. However, realtors say that doesn’t necessarily mean your home’s value is going down.

At this time last year, the average list price for a home in the Metro Nashville area was approximately $557,000 and that number has dropped by about 6.5% percent, according to Realtor.com.

Erika Kurre, a realtor with Benchmark Realty, said a possible reason for median home prices dropping is because smaller homes are selling faster. Meanwhile, larger homes with a higher price point are staying on the market longer.

“Initially you would think, is this a decrease in our home values? Because typically that’s what we’re used to seeing, but what it is actually is we’re seeing higher prices per square foot, and so our values actually are not decreasing,” Kurre explained. “What we’re seeing is there is a decrease in the square footage of homes that are sold.”

Kurre told News 2 the most drastic example of this is in Williamson County. Benchmark Realty LLC uses Realtracs data, which shows for the first time in 12 years, Williamson County saw an overall drop in the median sales price compared to last year for the month of January.

However, the sales price per square foot in Williamson County still increased from $296 per square foot to $308 per square foot. According to Kurre, this shows that homeowners shouldn’t worry about their home’s value going down.

“I think really, it goes back to what we’ve been talking about for a couple years: that affordability is really what’s driving this market. Right now, it’s a lot harder for people to afford higher-priced homes and higher interest rates, but at the same time, there are a lot of people that need to buy. They want to buy,” she told News 2.

For sellers looking to downsize and sell a larger home, good things come to those who wait, and spring is usually a time when activity picks back up.