Tornadoes devastated Tennessee earlier this week in Nashville in the dark of night, claiming at least 22 lives and destroying homes. The next actions are to find the missing, console the grieving, and begin to pick up the pieces of damaged neighborhoods. But even after the last house is rebuilt, the tornadoes’ impact will linger in Nashville, affecting the real estate market by driving some prices up and dragging other home values down. Unlike other natural disasters such as flooding or hurricanes, however, tornadoes usually have a smaller impact on property values, which is reflected in experts’ forecasts for the Nashville area. Though retaining property value may not be on the top of survivors’ minds the day after the tornadoes hit, the fact that prices are not expected to plummet will ease the journey further down the road to recovery.
The tornadoes that tore through Tennessee this week, including neighborhoods in and around downtown Nashville, claimed at least 22 lives, ripped through scores of homes and businesses, and damaged many, many more.
The unexpected storms were devastating by any measure. As people come to grips with the considerable human toll, real estate experts are just beginning to think about the longer-term impact on one of America's hottest real estate markets.
After all, home prices in the 'it' city of the South—a favorite of country music lovers, bachelorettes, and techie hipsters alike—have been on an explosively wild ride in recent years. And the tornadoes devastated some of Nashville's more desirable neighborhoods. At least 45 buildings downtown are no longer standing, and many others sustained substantial, possibly catastrophic, damage.
