Middle Tennessee Housing Market Enjoyed Success in 2006

The Ashland City Times put it simply: It was a good year to sell a house in Middle Tennessee, especially if it was in Williamson County.

The median price of a single-family home jumped 21 percent in Williamson County in 2006, the biggest leap in a region that saw generous price gains across the board and a record number of residential property sales over the nine-county area.

A record 40,056 residential properties were sold in Davidson and eight surrounding counties last year, a 3 percent gain over 2005, the previous record year. Sales were brisk through the summer, as well, as Tennessee mortgage activity remained strong.

For the year as a whole, home prices soared by more than 10 percent in Wilson, Sumner and Maury counties. Even in the area’s laggard, Dickson County, prices rose 5 percent, according to data released Tuesday by the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors.

“We felt like, all year long, it would be a record year, and we feel like 2007 will be another record year,” said Richard Courtney, the Realtors association’s president. He predicted sales will rise 2 percent to 3 percent in 2007.

Sales down for month: The final returns on 2006 show a market that rose for the year, even though sales softened in December, extending a slowdown that began in the fall.

Sales of single-family homes, which make up more than three-quarters of the local real estate market, dropped nearly 13 percent in December, compared to the same month in 2005.

Overall residential property sales - which also include condos, duplexes and land tracts - dropped more than 7 percent for the month. It’s typical around the holidays, however, for fewer mortgages loans to be applied for.

Williamson surges: The biggest surge in prices was in Williamson County, where the median price of a single-family home sold last year rose to $353,155 from $291,900 in 2005.

Sales of single-family homes in Williamson increased by 2.4 percent during the year.

One reason for the gain was new construction. Williamson County remained one of the area’s top markets for homebuilding in 2006, especially in homes priced $750,000 or more, local agents said.

“The resale market follows the new homes market,” said Bill Henson, Jr., president of Franklin-based SilverPointe Properties.

Sumner and Wilson counties - both of which have major subdivisions under construction - also enjoyed high price gains, 16 percent and 15 percent, respectively.