NASHVILLE, Tenn. -
Demand is outpacing supply in the Nashville rental market.
Realtor Brian Copeland, with Village Real Estate said according to the Middle Tennessee RealTracs database, the number of rental units has more than doubled since 2009.
However, demand has kept pace and renters snap up available units quickly.
"A renter can expect to find something on that first day and it'd be gone," Copeland told Nashville's News 2, "A landlord can expect to have their property rented out within a week in the Nashville area.
While the rate of apartment occupancy increases, rent prices go up too.
"They [rental prices] can go as high as $4,000 a month. I recently heard that one just last week was $4,000 for a two bedroom condo in the downtown area," said Copeland.
Copeland believes there are a number of factors driving up the demand.
"We have seen an influx of short sales and foreclosures so that has forced those homeowners into the rental market. We've also seen a great growth of students and ‘Generation Y' buyers looking in the urban area."
Currently, new buildings like the Pine Street Lofts in the Gulch are being built which will bring even more renters to the area.
"We've seen a lot of condo developers start to create rental property because they purchased the condo property when the condo market was hot for sale and now they're seeing that they we can cash flow this land by building rental properties there," said Copeland.
As long as Nashville continues to grow and develop, it's likely this trend will also continue.
More people are also buying homes as well. According to the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, homes sales for the month of June were up about 20% from the same time last year.
