NASHVILLE, Tenn.- According to a study by GOBankingRates, Crossville, Cookeville, and Clarksville will no longer be considered affordable within a decade. Clarksville is anticipated to be unaffordable by 2031, Cookeville by 2028, and Crossville by 2026. Startling news for Middle Tennesseans looking to buy in these markets.

However, Steve Jolly, the Greater Nashville Realtors President, says that there’s no reason to panic, “I think there were a few flaws in their analysis. I still think the prices are going to rise in those areas. I just don’t think they’re going to rise as fast as they expect.”

According to Jolly, the main issue is that the study predicts housing will continue to rise at unsustainable rates. “They use a one-year estimate of price increases in those areas. And then they use that same one-year increase and broadcast it over five years, which most of the time would seem okay, except for the one year they used. If you look at all that data, they used about a 20% or higher projection in all those cities. And I just don’t think we’re going to have that.”

While prices for real estate are likely to continue to rise, higher interest rates are having an impact. “I certainly expect the rate at what they’re appreciating to slow down a little bit, especially now that we have interest rates above five and a half percent. So in the last year, interest rates have almost increased by three percent. And what that does to buyers is it cuts out about a third of their buying power,” Jolly said.

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