The average price for a home in Davidson County is $400,000. That's according to the nonprofit Nashville Organized for Action and Hope (NOAH).

NOAH says homeowners here are spending more than 30% of their income on a place to live.

FOX 17 News came across a house in The Nations going for $850,000. Neighbors tell us it’s being sold as a commercial property.

“It really creates severe strain on the individuals and families who are trying to live here,” says Kay Bowers, a co-chair of NOAH’s Affordable Housing Task Force.

Bowers says it’s a challenge with corporate investors coming in.

“If they’re paying $800,000, they wanna put something on it where typically they can triple their investment,” says Bowers.

Down the street from that land is Brightside Bakeshop. The owner also has a home in the Nations and says even two years ago her entire street looked different.

“It took us a lot of time and almost about a year and a half looking for the perfect space. The neighborhood just kept changing and new things kept opening,” says Andrea Borchers who lives in The Nations.

According to Point2, the average cost in Nashville would get you a little over 1,500 square feet.

We found another example in The Nations, with the home selling for $900,000.

Gloria Hausser is the Vice-Chair of Metro’s Affordable Housing Committee.

“You talked about the importance of keeping people who have jobs here. Can you expand more on what the city is doing to keep people from leaving if the market is too expensive?” asks FOX 17 News’ Amanda Chin.

“We’re looking to see what other cities are doing. Right now, I don’t know of any particular incentives to keep people in Davidson County, but they’re very much in favor of looking at those options,” says Gloria Hausser, the Vice-Chair of Metro’s Affordable Housing Committee.

Bowers says city leaders need to look at incentivizing with tax payment forgiveness or fee forgiveness, but the primary tool she feels city leaders need to be more proactive on utilizing public land.

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