By Will York, News Correspondent
June 09, 2006

Despite slowing national housing sales, May saw an uptick in Nashville’s residential market, showing 3,753 home sales closings.

This represents a 4.2 percent increase over May 2005’s 3,600 figure.

The sales report, released by the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors (GNAR) on Thursday, also shows a 16 percent increase in May home sales over April.

The Nashville market, a multi-county geographic area as viewed by GNAR, reported 3,236 closings in April.

Year-to-date closings were also up compared to the May 2005 year-to-date figures, an 8 percent increase.

Christie Wilson, GNAR president, said Nashville is poised for continued growth based on May’s record number of pending sales. There were 3,894 sales pending at the end of May, the largest number recorded by GNAR for any one-month period.

Additionally, home inventory numbers topped 15,000 for the first time since July 2004. The realty association reported 15,400 homes in inventory during May.

Wilson said there is good news for both buyers and sellers in the Nashville real estate market.

“Our inventory levels mean great news for buyers because there are more choices on the market,” she said. “The good news for sellers is the steady rise in median price.”

The median price for a single-family home climbed to $179,900, a 12.5 percent increase compared with the $159,900 May 2005 median price. The median price for a condominium rose to $143,900, a 6.6 percent increase over the same period last year.

The National Association of Realtors recently predicted a 6.2 percent drop in existing home sales and a 13.4 percent drop in new home sales in 2006. Steadily increasing interest rates are attributed to slowing sales.

However, Wilson said Nashville’s market continues to grow at a steady, moderate pace, in the opposite direction of the national market. She added the “housing bubble” experienced in many parts of the country has yet to make its way to Nashville.

“The gains we are seeing in Nashville are healthy, sustainable gains. There are no spikes,” Wilson said. “We’re much stronger here than the rest of the country.”

Wilson attributes Nashville’s diverse economy and increased corporate relocations as a contributing factor in Nashville’s continued real estate growth.