Total new-home closings: 5,296
Population: 1,792,649
The good: A big entry into 2015 among starts and closings show upward momentum.
The bad: Lot shortages may be to blame for downward patterns after every market upbeat.
The bottom line: The market has proved, amid its fluctuations in recent years, that its general direction is upward.
The single-family new-home market has made considerable tempo changes in Music City over the past few years, but so far finds an upbeat after every down tempo. Closings made a strong statement going into 2015, with a nearly 20% boost year over year in January, followed by an 11.8% increase in February. Based on the market's patterns over the past three years, you might expect this to be followed by a temporary downturn, but in March, year-to-date permit totals for single-family dwellings were up by 13% year over year, indicating that things may be different this time around.
Changes in Nashville's momentum may be attributed to a short supply of lots in the region. And with the total number of homes built absorbing the same number of finished lots at the end 2014, more fluctuations may be in store. But so long as the tempo returns after each slowdown, builders will keep dancing in Nashville.
