By Connor Burnard, Studio M staff //
As indicated in this Tennessean article, the story of modern Nashville is one of renting, not owning. Real estate website Zillow reported that the median home list price in Nashville went from $129K in December 2011 to $345K in February 2018 — an explosion in cost that would clearly suggest that homeownership in Nashville is harder to reach than ever before.
However, despite what the aforementioned Tennessean article implies, there has not been a drastic skyrocket in renter-occupied housing units. In fact, only a few zip codes in Nashville have seen a significant increase in the portion of housing units being occupied by renters rather than owners. Old Hickory, Hillsboro Village, Melrose and Glenview increased in renters from 2011 to 2016, but 37219 — the zip code that covers the Capitol Hill area downtown — saw an 11 percent decrease in the number of housing units occupied by renters.
The data presented in these maps suggests that maybe Nashville isn’t as paralyzed by growing pains as some might think — or maybe the population of the city has been replaced by wealthier residents, willing to pay what the real estate market began to demand.
Connor Burnard is a sophomore studying physical geography at Middle Tennessee State University.
Studio M, a project of the College of Media and Entertainment at MTSU, allows student journalists to be published statewide and nationwide. It’s made possible through grants and donations from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Tennessean and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.