Nashville Housing Shift: First-Time Buyers Are Skipping a Key Step

Thank you to Realtor.com and Greater Nashville REALTORS for the support and kind recognition. I always enjoy opportunities like this where I get to collaborate and help bring more attention to real estate topics that do not always get talked about. You can check out Realtor.com’s article here:

https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/first-time-homebuyers-skipping-starter-homes-forever-homes/

I am sharing the thoughts I provided to Realtor.com below.

I’m seeing first-time buyers in Nashville try to skip the traditional “starter home” and go straight into what they think will be a forever home. I recently worked with a first-time buyer who did exactly that, and it was exciting to watch. The pride they felt in not just becoming a homeowner, but buying a home that even their parents could comfortably enjoy, was undeniable. It’s a big emotional milestone, and you really feel that when you hand over the keys.

That said, I do think there’s a steeper learning curve when you jump over the starter-home phase. Historically, starter homes tended to be smaller, more basic, and easier to maintain.  They offered no-frills finishes, simpler systems, and more affordable updates when something inevitably needed to be replaced. With a “forever home”, especially one with higher-end finishes and complex systems, first-time buyers are suddenly responsible for maintaining things like high-grade appliances, specialty materials, and more intricate mechanical components. I get concerned that when these items start to fail, the cost of repair can be a real shock to someone who hasn’t owned before and may not have budgeted for that level of upkeep.

In Nashville specifically, most of our recent development has been geared toward what I’d call “mass appeal” product...neighborhoods that are designed to sell quickly and deliver higher margins for builders. That often means larger homes, more features, and price points that are out of reach for many true first-time buyers. The result is a shortage of what we used to think of as entry-level housing. A new buyer who simply wants a modest home with a two-car garage and a fenced yard often has to make a hard choice: either lower their expectations significantly, or keep renting longer so they can save up and jump straight into a more expensive home later.

When first-time buyers do skip the starter home and stretch into a nicer forever property, it can unintentionally reinforce this cycle. Builders see continued demand for higher-priced, mainstream and upscale products, and there’s less incentive to bring genuine entry-level communities to market. Over time, that creates a gap: fewer options for the next wave of first-time buyers who want new construction but don’t have the budget to go all-in on a forever home right out of the gate.

An upside of this trend is that buyers may move less often, which can provide stability for families and neighborhoods, but a downside is that it concentrates demand in a narrower band of product, potentially squeezing out lower-price inventory, and puts more pressure on first-time buyers to get it right on their very first purchase. If more people truly stay in the same home for most of their lives, I think we’ll see longer holding periods and tougher entry for buyers entering the market.