Where have all the affordable houses gone?
Article by Antoinette Olesen • 1 minute read
This article highlights how corporate forces, such as REITs and Airbnb, are contributing to Nashville’s skyrocketing housing prices. REITs outbid local buyers for mid-level and below homes, then hold or redevelop them into high-end units, effectively cannibalizing the broader housing market. At the same time, a small number of Airbnb hosts control the majority of listings, thereby reducing the available housing supply. The result is rising prices, shrinking inventory, and fewer opportunities for working families to achieve homeownership.
REITs are a big issue
REITs continue buying up properties in Nashville, boxing many out of the American dream
To find and purchase a home at a good price, you’ll have to compete with not only wealthy out-of-towners but also corporate investors who are disrupting the American dream. A Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is defined as a company that owns or finances income-producing properties. Essentially, they’re corporations that buy up homes and rent them out. In the Nashville region, they own about 10,000 homes and are growing. Their primary concentration here is on homes in the $250,000-$350,000 range (our affordable single-family homes). Corporations use algorithms to find homes. They do so quickly and pay with cash, competing with the average buyer for a home. The REITs, with more resources, often come out on top.
Tax Records show that one REIT alone has already invested $97,726,778.00 in Nashville Properties, much of which remains undeveloped.
The impact of Airbnb
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Estimates show approximately 12,992 Airbnb listings in Metro Nashville, TN. This represents a 3% increase from the previous year.
Source: MarketMinder 2025
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Data shows that “about one-quarter of the hosts on the Airbnb platform own nearly two-thirds of the listings. This means corporate and LLC ownership.
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Such data enumerates how Airbnb contributes to the lack of housing for others to purchase. The lack of housing options, combined with the soaring prices of rent individuals face, leaves hopeful homeowners with an insurmountable obstacle: paying more to rent while trying to save for a home. They are forced to try to save money when lower-priced houses are bought and rented for profit, while paying more and more to rent. This leaves homeownership as a mere dream for many when our parents scarcely had the same issue.