The Kestner Team

Where does Nashville stand Economically?

The media is great at reporting how terrible the economy is and how bad the housing industry is; however, they don’t follow up their bleak reports about how Nashville is prospering compared to the rest of the country.

Nashville has a very diverse economy and well educated work force. Unlike cities like Detroit that is totally reliant upon the automotive industry, Nashville’s economy is so stable because it is driven by many different types of industries. Although we are “Music City”, we are not solely dependant upon the tourism industry. We have one of the largest health care industries in the country, we have ELEVEN schools of higher education, we have Dell Computers, Nissan Headquarters, Dollar General, Titan’s Football, Predator’s Hockey, Ingram Books, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Verizon Wireless, Jack Daniels, Toshiba, Vought - we’re a hub for the trucking industry, we have an international airport – the list can go on and on. If any one industry has a bad year, the city doesn’t go under. We tout Nashville as a “Mutual Fund” City. We may falter, but only a little.

Nashville has received MANY awards over the years for its accomplishments. In 2008 along, Nashville received over 14 Top Ranking Awards:

• 2^nd Best Business Climate – by Site Selection Magazine
• Top 100 Places to Live - by Relocate America
• Top 25 Art Destinations – by American Style Magazine
• 2^nd Most Affordable City - Travel & Leisure Magazine
• Top Five Most Friendly Cities – Travel & Leisure Magazine
• 2007 Competitiveness Award - Site Selection Magazine
• Ranked Sixth for Best Airport for Customer Satisfaction – by J.D. Power & Associates
• Top 100 Places to Live – by CNN Money
• Ranked 4^th in the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity - Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
• Top 100 Hospitals for Benchmarks for Success – Thompson Reuters Top Hospitals
• Top 100 Hospitals for Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success - Thompson Reuters Top Hospitals
• 15^th for Best Places For Business and Careers – Forbes Magazine
• 3rd Top City for Cultural Amenities – BizJournal
• 14^th Best City for Jobs – Forbes Magazine

Our City leaders work diligently on a daily basis to maintain Nashville’s integrity and continue to be an appealing city to businesses and individuals. Each city in the country strives to achieve these awards – the fact that Nashville receives them every year is only proof that IT IS A GREAT PLACE. How does this affect the housing industry? Businesses move to the area bringing with them employees, more local jobs, tax money, new homes are needed – it’s a domino affect and Nashville continues to prove its worthiness on a yearly basis. Yes, we’ve been affected by the national economy: unemployment is up, home sales are down, retail sales are down, but compared to other cities, we are doing very well and will come out of this slump much quicker than other cities both larger and smaller than Nashville.

One more thing I’d like to mention regarding the local real estate industry. You may read reports stating that the median price of homes in the Nashville market has gone down. What they don’t mention is how that figure is calculated – if most of the homes currently being sold are in the $165,000 range (because of affordability) rather than the $1,000,000 range, then the median price is lower. That doesn’t mean things are terrible, it just means that for the past quarter more lower priced homes sold than higher priced homes.

All of this simply means – Nashville is doing great and if you are considering buying or selling real estate – don’t let the media scare you. It is a Buyer’s market, interest rates just dropped again, and mortgages are available – there’s NO REASON not to act.