There are a lot of new people moving to Sunbelt towns from California, and Nashville, Tennessee is one of them. Property prices are going up because Nashville is becoming more popular, but they’re going up so fast that the number of homeless people in the city has grown by leaps and bounds. Some people who have lived in Nashville for a long time think that the newcomers from California are mostly to blame.
It’s important to note that Nashville isn’t the only place in the country that has a problem with housing prices and a rise in homelessness. The number of homeless people in Nashville is thought to be 1,525, which is almost double last year’s number of 863. About 700,000 people live in Nashville, and another 600,000 live in the urban area around it.
Compared to other cities, 1,525 homeless people are a very small number. However, the city’s projected rate of “chronic homelessness” has grown by 78%. In other words, most of the city’s homeless people are expected to stay homeless. Many people in Nashville are raising the alarm because they are worried about it. It’s not something they want to wait until it gets as bad as it is in Los Angeles or New York.
What about the newcomers from California? Are they really to blame? Unquestionably, when a lot of people from California move into an area, property prices tend to go up. As a matter of fact, Californians usually choose places with cheaper home prices and living costs when they move. A lot of people have sold expensive homes and used the money to buy other things.
People who didn’t own their own homes were used to paying California’s extremely high rents. Now that they can work from home, they can make Californian wages and live in a place like Nashville that isn’t as expensive. Because of that, real estate prices will have to go up. But if you look more closely, you can see some interesting patterns in Nashville.
A new study from the real estate data company Zumper shows that Nashville’s average flat vacancy rate is 10.8%, which is the highest level in 20 years. According to the poll, rents are 4% lower than they were last year. This comes after rents went up 20.8% in 2022 and 14.6% in 2023. With a net rise of almost 30%, it’s easy to see why many longtime Nashville residents are shocked by the new prices.
It’s a big win for landlords and landlords in Nashville. However, it’s also a blow to people in Nashville whose wages haven’t gone up quickly or who can’t work from home and make California pay. But it’s also important to note that people aren’t just moving to Nashville from California. Many people are drawn to Nashville because of its mild weather and low cost of living.
City dwellers from New York to Seattle are all looking for a spot where they can live a good life and get the most out of their hard-earned cash. Many of those things are true about Nashville, and in that way, it has become a product of its own good fortune. A lot of people are going there because it’s a nice place to live.
That’s what brought people to California for many years. This is a normal part of the real estate trend that Nashville is going through. Nashville has to figure out how to handle its success without leaving its people behind. It’s not likely that Nashville would be better off if no one wanted to move there. Californians shouldn’t be blamed for the bad things that happen when you’re successful.
