The results of a new report by Chas. Hawkins Co. Inc. are in and commercial real estate sales numbers in Nashville were up in the first three months of 2012 compared to previous years. Figures released indicated there were 85 transactions during this time, representing total sales of $205 million in Davidson County.
The number of transactions recorded was up a whopping 77 per cent from 2011. The total dollar volume was up 138 per cent over last year’s figures.
The increase in activity in the market is an encouraging sign and an indication that the market is moving out of the sluggish conditions it has been experiencing over the past few years. Commercial property investors are becoming hopeful that the market may start to thrive once again.
Interestingly enough, much of the increase in sales in the market was driven by the sale of owner/user property and purchases made by smaller investors. About two-thirds of the sales were for commercial property purchases of less than $1 million; 59 per cent of the properties sold changed hands for less than $650,000.
The increased activity is definitely a step in the right direction, but it does not mean that the commercial property market has fully recovered in the Nashville area. Compared to the first quarter of 2007, 21 per cent fewer transactions closed in early 2012. A full 65 per cent fewer sales were completed in the first three months of 2012 than in the same period in 2006.
It’s important to keep in mind that $109 million of the $205 million which changed hands in early 2012 came from three large sales involving West End Courtyard hotel, 211 Commerce Building and Belmont Village of Green Hills, an assisted living facility.
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