Nashville apartment rates among fastest-growing in country (Memphis, Knoxville: transplants, real estate)

[ariesjow]

Thought I would share this one here for our residents and transplants who are finding it tough to track down the right residential rentals.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20...nclick_check=1

If you are shopping for an apartment in Nashville, be prepared for some sticker shock.

Over the past year, rental rates in Nashville have risen at a higher rate that most other cities in the country. In fact, Nashville’s rental rate growth of 9.3 percent ranks as No. 6 among the country’s Top 100 metro areas, according to Trulia, a real estate website.

The average rental rate in Nashville stands at $865, according to third-quarter 2012 statistics from Collier’s International, a commercial real estate company.

Collier’s said Nashville’s occupancy rate stood at 95.8 percent in the third quarter.

“With demand for rentals strong and vacancies low, the overall lack of new supply is resulting in significant competition in many Nashville submarkets,” according to the Collier’s report.

According to Trulia, Houston saw the nation’s largest rental rate growth at 16.2 percent.

Other cities topping the lists were Oakland, Calif., Miami, Cleveland and Bradenton, Fla.

In Tennessee, Memphis rental rates actually dropped 0.2 percent in the past year. Knoxville’s rates were unchanged from a year ago.

[Beat02]

What's up with this? I thought cost of living was supposed to be cheaper here!

[vivelafrance]

Originally Posted by Beat02

What's up with this? I thought cost of living was supposed to be cheaper here!

The average rent in my current city is 1800k per month so that average looks pretty cheap to me! Sure wages are higher here in Boston but they certainly aren't more than double like the rent.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by Beat02

What's up with this? I thought cost of living was supposed to be cheaper here!

We're a hot city right now...and with the housing market the way it is, we are quite under served in the rental/apartment sector, most especially in the urban core.

This is why there are several thousand units under construction in the urban core area now, with several thousand more planned or getting ready to start construction.

Occupancy is very high. Perhaps when more units get built, we'll see a little dip in the rental rates. But maybe not. Again...this is a hot city right now, and I can see us moving up from the very inexpensive cost of living department to the somewhat less expensive cost of living department.

[brentwoodgirl]

Cheaper is a relative term anyway. Cheaper than where? Small town Mississippi? Upper East Side of Manhattan? Whether or not Nashville is "cheaper" really depends on your perspective.
But on average, Nashville housing is less expensive. Average rent in the US is a little over $1,000, so Nashville is lower than that and the median home price is a bit lower here too.
Home prices in the South (13%) are rising much faster than the Northeast (4%) and the Midwest (7%), so the gap is closing between the regions in general. Add that Nashville is a popular city, and the gap is closing even faster here.

[ariesjow]

I think the best solution is to continue to build multi-family residential units. We still have a long way to go before some of the popular areas catch up to demand and the focus for developers seems to remain on luxury rentals particularly in the urban neighborhoods. I hope we start to see more proposals that are aiming toward the middle of the market in the in-town nabes, but these amenity-driven places that are going for upward of $1,200/mo for a small one bedroom are still renting fast.