Housing market

Buying a house in Nashville is not easy right now.

Those circumstances are not confined to Middle Tennessee, and they cannot be blamed on any one thing. Lumber and other supply materials costs have skyrocketed in the past year and a half, in part because of supply-chain logjams. New construction has both slowed and become more expensive due to those factors and a labor crunch. Compounding forces have created a situation where homes are snatched up hours after they come on the market and owners who would otherwise be looking to sell are holding off for fear that they won’t be able to find somewhere else to live.