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WASHINGTON (AP) — Home sales rose in December to the highest pace in nearly a year. The gain coincides with other signs that show the troubled U.S. housing market improved at the end of last year

Still, sales remain depressed and ended 2011 well below healthy levels.

The National Association of Realtors said Friday that sales increased 5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.61 million, the best level since January 2011 and the third straight monthly increase.

For the year, sales totaled only 4.26 million. While that’s up from 4.19 million the previous year, it’s below the 6 million that economists equate with healthy housing markets.

Sales are increasing at a time when the market is flashing other positive signs. Mortgage rates are at record-low levels. Homebuilders have grown slightly less pessimistic because more people are saying they might be open to buying a home this year. And home construction picked up in the final quarter of last year.

The median sales price rose 2.3 percent to $164,500 in December.

Hiring has also improved, which is critical to a housing rebound. Applications for unemployment benefits are near a four-year low. The unemployment rate fell in December to its lowest level in nearly three years. And companies are coming off their best six-month stretch for hiring since 2006.

Still the housing market has a long way to go before it is fully recovered from the housing bust four years ago. In the last four years, home sales have slumped under the weight of foreclosures, tighter credit and falling price.

Fewer first-time buyers, who are critical to a housing recovery, are in the market for a home. Purchases by that group fell last month to make up only 31 percent of sales. That’s down from 35 percent in November. In healthy markets, first-time buyers make up at least 40 percent.

At the same time, homes at risk of foreclosure made up a third of all sales last month. In healthy markets, they comprise 10 percent of sales. Investors are increasingly buying homes priced under $100,000.

Still, Sales rose across the country in December. They increased on a seasonal basis by more than 10 percent in the Northeast, 8.3 percent in the Midwest, 2.9 percent in the South and 2.6 percent in the West.

The glut of unsold homes declined to 2.38 million homes. At last month’s sales pace, it would take a nearly 7 months to clear those homes. Analysts say a healthy supply can be cleared in about six months.

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In 2011, West Nashville saw nearly 40 new restaurants open within a few-mile radius. Dozens of new retail stores have come online. More students are attending its colleges.

With hot neighborhoods, though, came growing pains. And they became increasingly apparent in 2011.

Like, parking and traffic. And where are all these new students and urbanites going to live?

It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that 2012 is looking to be punctuated with meetings, discussions and more construction striving for solutions to those sticky growing pains.

A lot of that apartment construction is well under way, especially in 12South, Elliston Place and Music Row. The buying and renovating of aging, makeover-hungry bungalows in areas such as Sylvan Park and Edgehill Village is looking to be quite the trend for 2012 as well.

And, although problems with parking are still likely to dominate community meetings in these areas, 2012 undoubtedly will include more discussion about the need for a stronger mass-transit system. Like, in the Gulch, where the city’s free, downtown circulator bus has been growing in popularity.

Here are some of the big things happening in 2012 for some of West Nashville’s hottest neighborhoods:

Music Row/Edgehill Village/Hillsboro Village

1. Discussions will continue among Edgehill Village developers regarding the building of a parking garage that could include condominiums or apartments on its upper floor.

2. Action is likely to be taken on a proposed connection of Acklen Avenue to Magnolia Boulevard.

3. Stonehenge DCM, developers from the Atlanta area, have announced an 86-unit apartment project slated to open on Music Row in about 12 months at the intersection of 16th and Horton avenues. Rental rates for studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments still are being evaluated, but Stonehenge’s Todd Jackovich said the units will be marketed to young professionals. A two-story vacant office building occupies the site. The building will be demolished to make way for a five-story apartment complex, which includes two levels of parking, including one underground.

4. Music Row’s talented occupants will begin their partnerships this year with Davidson County’s elementary and middle school populations through Music Makes Us: The Nashville Music Education Project. Schools still will have marching band and glee club, but thanks to an avalanche of promised donations and music industry volunteers, students also will have the option of joining a rock ’n’ roll band, or performing bluegrass or hip-hop, or signing up for a songwriting class or a course in DJ remixing. The expanded offerings will hit the high school level in 2013.

5. The Belcourt Theatre this year was selected as one of nine theaters across the country by the Sundance Film Festival to host an evening of film and dialogue with a filmmaker featured at the annual festival in Park City, Utah.

Sylvan Park/West End/Elliston Place

1. Franklin-based developer Southern Land Company, known best for the Dwell apartment complex off McEwen Drive in Williamson County, has broken ground on Elliston 23, or E23. It’s a multimillion-dollar complex of 331 apartments on top of upscale restaurants and boutique clothing stores, set to be completed in 2013. The brochure boasts apartments with the features of a luxury hotel: sleek appliances, coffee lounge, eco-friendly and outdoor cabanas with flat-screen TVs.

2. The new McCabe Community Center, sandwiched between the golf course and Sylvan Park’s popular business district, will hold outdoor concerts and other events at its amphitheater.

3. Talks surely will continue among Sylvan Park business owners and city leaders about possible solutions to the parking crunch. Among the options being looked at: working out an agreement with the McCabe Golf Course and new community center to use the lots at off-peak times, said Metro Councilman Jason Holleman, who represents Sylvan Park. Another is to rezone a private piece of property that sits behind the commercial business district and turn it into a parking lot. Also, increasing the walkability of the area by reworking the intersection at 46th Avenue and Murphy Road to create curbs. The change actually would create less parking space on-street, but improve the safety of the area.

4. Although 2012 will see the end to stores such as f.y.e entertainment on West End Avenue, Vanderbilt University continues to be a draw for business. For example computer retailer MacAuthority planned to open a new store last weekend on West End Avenue, near the new Barnes & Noble Vanderbilt Bookstore and the school’s campus.

5. Plans continue for a makeover of Centennial Park. Drafts of the possible improvements include replacing roadways and parking lots with green space, water structures and gardens. The draft also includes new structures, monuments and water features. Among them are two musicians corners, an amphitheater, a winter garden, jogging loop, a second café, restrooms, a Parthenon reflecting pool and a cascade of fountains spewing water into the air.

The Gulch/12South

1. A $50 million, 23-story apartment building at 12th Avenue South and Demonbreun is expected to be completed this year. The project was initially proposed as a 28-story condo tower just as the housing market stumbled. Ray Hensler, president of Market Realty Advisors, last year switched the concept to upscale apartments.

2. Construction is set to get under way at 1515 Demonbreun, a 250-unit apartment building in an area bordering Music Row and across from Rhythm condos. The project is another venture of Bristol Development Group, which, along with Market Street, developed the Icon and Velocity.

3. Market Street Enterprises plans an apartment complex nestled between the Icon and Velocity at Pine Street and 11th Avenue South. By 2013, 300 one- and two-bedroom units ranging in price from $900 to $2,000 a month will be available for rentals. The plan also includes about 16,000 square feet of retail space.

4. In the former Polar Icehouse Storage property on 11th Avenue North between Church Street and Charlotte Avenue, developers expect 302 apartment units by spring. Georgia-based partners TriBridge Residential LLC and Stonehenge DCM are developing the Eleven North Apartments project on nine acres.

5. As plans are carried out to improve Sevier Park, to include additional parking spots, construction continues to be a mainstay on 12Avenue South. The intergalactic-looking Urban Grub promises to open sometime soon. The restaurant will boast Southern-style seafood, including a raw bar with oysters and Latin dishes such as enchiladas.

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If 2011 was not the most successful year in recent memory for Nashville-area real estate, the 12-month period nonetheless ranked as one of the more unusual for those who make their living in the industry.

The year saw surprises, emerging trends, interesting announcements and continued questions. What 2011 lacked in stability and high-dollar transactions and investments, it compensated with steady growth, pricing stabilization and underrated deals.

During the past 12 months, numerous construction sites began to hum, a Fortune 500 company made a foray into the city, hotels were announced and numerous restaurants and boutiques opened (and closed). On top of that, companies started construction, neared completion or announced plans for more than 3,100 for-rent apartments in large-scale buildings close to Nashville’s core.

True, Nashville lacks the cranes it saw in the mid-2000s, but the city got its concrete-and-steel buzz back this year.

In short, 2011 was respectable for the real estate sector. For high-profile apartment buildings, the year was stupendous. As December concluded, Nashville had eight rental residential buildings of 50 units or more under construction. Seven others are planned. 

“In absolute terms, this [building boom] is unprecedented,” Woody McLaughlin, a member of the Greater Nashville Apartment Association and that entity’s expert on the city’s rental residential property statistics, told Post sister publication The City Paper in early November.

Vista Germantown started the process in late 2010, and 2011 simply accelerated the momentum.

“It will have a [visual] impact similar to the impact the condominiums [built in the 2000s] had, but the massing won’t be quite on the same scale,” said Marion Fowlkes, principal of Green Hills-based Centric Architecture.

“We don’t need to be building outside the core. We need to build inside. The infrastructure is already in place.”

Though likely the dominant element of Nashville’s 2011 real estate activity, construction of large-scale apartments was joined by other land-use themes of note.

Mark Woolwine, senior associate and a member of the Office Properties Group at the Nashville office of CB Richard Ellis, listed as 2011 highlights the continued positive absorption for the Nashville office market and outlined three suburban-oriented themes:

• The city still has one of the lowest suburban office vacancy rates in the country.

• Boyle Investment Co. broke ground for a Class A speculative office building in Cool Springs.

• LifePoint’s announcement of a new 200,000-square-foot building for its headquarters.

When asked for a disappointment, Woolwine said, “Major office users that have backed off their decision to relocate to the Central Business District.”

Jeff Haynes, managing partner with the Brentwood office of Memphis-based Boyle, said 2011 saw the industry get “ back to basics” and a “fundamentals balance.”

“The balance sheet of the borrower really matters,” said Haynes, whose company scored a major coup at the year’s end when Northwestern Mutual bought about 32 acres of North Gulch property from Crosland and named Boyle its consultant for the land’s future usage.

“Banks are back making loans,” Haynes added, “but they are looking to the wherewithal of the development sponsor, which they should have been all along.”

Echoing Woolwine, Haynes said 2011 was a very respectable year for the area’s commercial real estate sector. Not even the fact that construction of the Nashville Medical Trade Center did not begin as originally planned when the project was announced in 2009 seems to have dampened enthusiasm.

“The year was far better than expected,” Haynes said, adding that large-scale apartment construction, retail leasing and rising office occupancies were highlights. “Especially relative to other markets, Nashville is very fortunate. We started new projects in each area except industrial.”

On the retail theme, space within the urban core enjoyed significant leasing buzz this past year. Charles Robin, who has operated Robin Realty since 1972, said downtown retail space, with a few notable exceptions (for example, Encore) rented well in 2011.

“Leasing in the entertainment district has done very well, not only in 2011 but the last three years too — even in a down economy,” Robin said.

Retail leasing fared “probably better” than Robin expected entering the year, particularly with restaurants renting space.

“Some restaurants were looking to find cheap deals, but those were harder to find in Middle Tennessee than in other places,” Robin said. “Don’t get me wrong. Tenants negotiated harder [than in the past] but we didn’t have to give quite the concessions [they sought].”

With the Nashville commercial real estate market ending 2011 on stable footing, uncertainties remain as 2012 looms.

“If the financial markets continue to struggle and the political climate and policy decisions of Washington continue to be gridlocked, then we could see a cooling of Nashville’s growth,” Woolwine said.

Still, he is hopeful.

“This year should be an interesting one,” Woolwine said. “If the economy gains traction, then Nashville should be well positioned for positive growth and recovery.”

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Looking for next hot spot? Location is still the key

By Linda Bryant

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John Brittle

What does it take for a scruffy area of town to morph into an emerging neighborhood that potential home owners and investors watch closely?

Developer and neighborhood activist Dan Heller says it’s a combination of factors – timing, buy-in from residents, market demand and dedicated local investors who have more than making money on their minds.

“It helps to have a footprint in one concentrated area,” Heller says. “It helps to have housing that can still appreciate.”

Heller is often credited with reviving the area near the corner of Riverside Drive and McGavock Pike from a neighborhood plagued by urban blight to a thriving hotspot. Now known as Riverside Village, the small Inglewood neighborhood is bustling with locally-owned retail stores and restaurants and affordable housing.

Heller, who lives in the neighborhood, is landlord to the majority of commercial tenants at Riverside Village. He’s selective with tenants and makes sure they match the neighborhood’s core character, which is eclectic, casual and family-oriented.

”I spent a lot of time screening them,” Heller says. “I didn’t want franchises. I wanted to stay with local businesses and I didn’t want them to compete with one another. I thought about want would draw women, children and families.

“Riverside isn’t lightning in a bottle,” Heller continues. “I think the same kind of transformation could happen in many different areas and pockets of Nashville. It’s a process that can happen quickly or over a long period of time, but it does usually take a few things to light the fire. It takes capital and a micro community of property owners that are willing to share a vision.”

If multiple property owners in a neighborhood are conflicted, revitalization efforts are often thwarted, Heller adds.

Realtor John Brittle, director of land sales at Village Real Estate Services and founding member of InfillNashville.com, says an up-and-coming neighborhood needs advocates willing to roll up their sleeves and work over a period of several years to improve the area.

“There has to be some sort of ambassador,” Brittle says. “There has to be energy to start the wave to begin with; it can be a person or neighborhood group. Residents need to be willing to accept development and new growth. You need people who are persistent in keeping their neighborhood from falling into disrepair, willing to invest in the neighborhood and protect its historic structures.”

Proximity to downtown Nashville and interstate access are also key factors, he adds.

“So much of it is about time and travel,” he explains. “These neighborhoods are usually within minutes of downtown Nashville and they are close to transportation hubs.

“They are places where home owners and investors are confident that commercial development and small business will come,” Brittle added. “People have to be able to live in the neighborhood and not have to leave for everything they need.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Dec. 2, 2011) – Kendra Cooke has been elected president of the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors for 2012. Cooke, a Realtor with Bob Parks Realty, was sworn in this morning, along with other GNAR officers. Her one-year term will begin Jan. 1.
 
  Officers serving with Cooke for 2012 include, Price Lechleiter (Fridrich & Clark Realty), President-Elect; Hagan Stone (Pilkerton REALTORS), Secretary/Treasurer; Mark Deutschmann (Village Real Estate Services), Vice President; Cindy Stanton (Crye-Leike REALTORS Midtown), Vice President; and Alice Walker (The Wilson Group Real Estate Services), Immediate Past President.
 
   “Kendra is an exceptional leader. Her success as a Realtor, her leadership in the association and her many community involvements are clear evidence of that. She is, and has been, a great asset to GNAR.  Her insight and energy will be of high value to GNAR and I look forward to working with her in her new leadership role in 2012,” said Alice Walker, 2011 GNAR president. “These are new, different and challenging times in the real estate profession. We are fortunate to have such a quality and experienced member to guide the association next year and continue the legacy of leadership we have enjoyed throughout our history.”
 
  “This year GNAR celebrated 120 years of being in business and 100 years of affiliation with the National Association of Realtors,” said Cooke. “We have enjoyed being reminded of many successes and events in our past, but we are even more excited about moving into our future because we believe that our best days are ahead of us. The challenges facing us in the real estate industry also bring with them creative opportunities for new ways to serve both the members of the association and our community. I am truly humbled and honored to be given the opportunity to serve at such an important time. GNAR is fortunate to have a board full of creative, energetic leaders and we look forward to working together in 2012. We are committed to continuing the leadership heritage for which GNAR is known.”
 
  Cooke has been in the real estate industry since 1997 and has served the industry in a variety of ways. In addition to being a director of both the Tennessee Association of Realtors and Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, she will serve as a director of the National Association of Realtors in 2012. Cooke has chaired and/or served on the Convention, Special Events, and Arbitration committees at GNAR. She was Realtor of the Year in 2005 and was both Top Listing and Top Selling Agent in 2006. Her community involvement includes serving as a director of the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce and is or has been active in a variety of organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, the American Heart Association, the Smyrna/LaVergne Food Bank, and many others.
 
  GNAR members elected new directors to one-year terms of specialized service. Serving on the 2011 Board of Directors are Chris Dotson (Chris Dotson & Associates) as Dickson Chapter President and Phil Dildine (The Morris Companies) as Chair of the GNAR Commercial Committee.
 
  GNAR members also elected four new at-large directors on rotating three-year terms from 2012-2014.  Those elected include Christie Bradley (The Wilson Group Real Estate Services), Sam Coleman (Fridrich & Clark Realty), Brian Copeland (Village Real Estate Services) and Marc Michaelson (Crye-Leike,Inc., Realtors).
Those completing their terms of service on the GNAR board this year include Denise Beard, (Village Real Estate Services), Missy Chandler (Parker Peery Properties), Allen Huggins (BrokerSouth Real Estate Partners), Marshall Karr (Karr Realty), and Lucy Smith (Fridrich & Clark Realty).
 
  In addition to installing the 2012 officers at the meeting, GNAR kicked off its Habitat for Humanity project for next year. The association will help fund and build a 16th Habitat Home in Nashville. Also, GNAR member Richard Courtney was honored with the President’s Award at the luncheon. The award, given out only when someone has done something truly exceptional that benefits the association and the profession, was presented to Courtney in recognition of his book, Come Together: The Business Wisdom of the Beatles.  Through his book, which has received international acclaim, he has created an opportunity to raise money for GNAR’s Habitat build, with multiple book signing events and speaking opportunities.
 
  The Greater Nashville Association of REALTORS® is one of Middle Tennessee’s largest professional trade associations and serves as the primary voice for Nashville-area property owners.  REALTOR® is a registered trademark that may be used only by real estate professionals who are members of the National Association of Realtors and subscribe to its strict code of ethics.