Nashville has been the it city since The New York Times declared it so in 2013. People have been moving here in droves. As housing stock became scarce, developers responded to that need by building a huge number of new condo and apartment buildings (not to mention single-family homes).
But now, the Nashville Post reports, that demand is slowing down:
Since the start of this year, the Post has talked to upwards of 20 developers, investors and commercial real estate brokers regarding the topic. All said signs point to a cooling of sorts. Two sources said that, while development should remain rather robust the next few years, they are aware of multiple banks that no longer will consider loans for large-scale projects in Nashville.
Many of the new projects under development will be ready for occupancy in 2017. Some developers are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see how hot demand is going to be for those new projects at that time. “My guess is the market will shift over the next six to 12 months from a landlord’s market to a renter’s market. Renters will have more leverage,” John Tirrill of SWH Residential Partners told the Nashville Post.
This slow-down does not affect smaller residential projects, however, and development of office space will remain hot.