| Real estate market slowly picking up |
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By: ERIN EDGEMON, Sept. 19, 2008
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Posted: Friday, September 19, 2008 3:58 pm
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The Rutherford County real estate market is slowly starting to pick up as the excess home inventory is starting to sell.
But real estate market analyst Edsel Charles said it will likely be fall 2009 before Rutherford County is “out of the woods” if homes keep selling at the current rate.
Inventory dropped by 354 homes from 1,205 to 851 in the last eight months, he said.
According to area real estate agents, Rutherford County has an eight-month supply of homes currently on the market but should have about a three to four month supply.
But Charles told a large group of real estate agents and bankers Friday that out of all of the cities in the 21 states he tracks, the greater Nashville market is one of the very best.
Charles gave a presentation on the Middle Tennessee real estate market at an open house event at Woodmont Neighborhood in Smyrna.
In the 11-county greater Nashville market, which includes Rutherford County, 52 percent of finished homes are unoccupied.
The majority of the home inventory in Rutherford County is located in the Highway 96 and Highway 99 corridors.
Builders are finally paying attention to the slowing market.
Construction on a single house has not started in more than four months in more than 100 Rutherford County subdivisions, Charles said.
Home sales are down approximately 30 percent from last year due to an unstable economy, tightening of lending practices and fear of the market, real estate agents say.
But for those financially able to purchase a home, it is actually the “perfect time to buy,” said Angelika Patton, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty.
The high inventory means competitive pricing and interest rates are lower than they have been in 10 to 12 years, she said.
Sukeeta Duncan, a real estate agent with Exit Realty First Choice, said media reports of the high rate of foreclosures due to sub-prime lending has scared many buyers away.
“If you are stable and you can afford a home, it is a great time to buy,” she said.
The average cost of a new home in the Highway 96/99 corridor is approximately $210,000 while on the east side of Murfreesboro the average cost is $227,607.
In Smyrna and La Vergne, the average cost of a new home is $176,000.
Despite the overbuilding that has occurred, Charles said demand for building lots will rise to 9,106 in Rutherford County by 2013. Rutherford County currently has 6,541 building lots.
Charles projects Rutherford County will need 1,505 building lots in 2009.
But Charles said 70-76 percent of communities in the greater Nashville area will be out of lots by 2013.
Erin Edgemon can be reached at 869-0812 and at eedgemon@murfreesboropost.com.
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