Are East Nashville Short-Term Rentals Still Worth Buying in 2026?

Quick answer: For most investors, no — not as a new short-term rental. Metro Nashville stopped issuing new non-owner-occupied STR permits in residential (R, RS, RM) zones, and existing investor permits don't transfer when a property sells. In Lockeland Springs, Cleveland Park, and Inglewood, the realistic 2026 play is an owner-occupied permit, not an investment buy.

That single rule changes the entire calculation, so it's worth understanding before you look at a single listing.

The rule that decides everything: permits don't transfer

Metro Codes splits short-term rental permits into two types. An owner-occupied permit requires the owner to permanently live at the property and be a natural person — LLCs, trusts, and partnerships are ineligible, and only one permit is issued per lot in single- and two-family zoning. A non-owner-occupied (investor) permit is the one most buyers picture, and it is the one that is largely closed off.

According to Metro Codes, "new not owner-occupied permits are not permitted in AR2A, R, RS, or RM zoned properties," and existing permit holders "are not transferable if the property is sold or transferred" (Nashville.gov, Permit Types, updated March 13, 2026). New investor permits are only available in commercial and mixed-use zones — MUN, MUL, MUG, MUI, CN, CL, CS, DTC, and similar districts.

Most residential streets in Lockeland Springs, Cleveland Park, and Inglewood are zoned R, RS, or RM. That means buying a home there today to operate as a non-owner-occupied STR isn't permittable — and buying one that currently holds an investor permit doesn't help you, because that permit dies at closing.

The honest takeaway: if your plan is to buy an East Nashville house, keep your own address elsewhere, and run it on Airbnb, the zoning will stop you before the math ever matters. Always confirm a specific parcel's zoning with Metro before acting.

What the East Nashville numbers actually say in 2026

Set the STR question aside and the underlying market is still a normal, functioning one — just not a frothy one. Inventory and pricing data below are from Nashville Real Estate Data, pulled June 1, 2026.

Lockeland Springs (37206) is the most liquid of the three. Inventory sits at 1.5 months — a seller's market — with a current median of $428 per square foot and 72 closings over the trailing twelve months. Year over year, median price per square foot is down 5.6%. Homes here move fast: the median days on market across recorded sales is just 3, and 60% of sales closed at or above list price. Lockeland Springs is the closest thing East Nashville has to a blue-chip block.

Inglewood (37216) is the value end of the trio. The current median is $349 per square foot with 2.6 months of inventory, up 4.3% year over year, and 51 trailing-twelve-month closings. It also shows the strongest list-price discipline of the group — 68% of sales closed at or above asking with a median 4 days on market. Inglewood is where a buyer trades a little prestige for more house per dollar.

Cleveland Park is thin. NRD records only six closings in the trailing twelve months, so its headline +27.4% year-over-year figure is statistical noise, not a trend — and inventory reads at 12 months. The quotable point: in a micro-market this small, one or two sales swing every percentage, so treat any Cleveland Park "trend" with skepticism.

If you can't run an investor STR, what's left?

Three legitimate paths remain for East Nashville in 2026.

Owner-occupied short-term rental. Live in the home, get the owner-occupied permit, and rent rooms or the unit when you travel. This is the one STR route still fully open in residential zones, and a two-family property (a detached duplex under a Horizontal Property Regime counts) lets you occupy one side and short-term rent within the rules.

Long-term rental. This is where the buy-and-hold math lives now. Using NRD's lease and sales medians, a long-term rental in Lockeland Springs pencils to roughly a 6.0% gross yield ($1.85 per square foot per month against a $370 full-history median sale price), with Inglewood around 6.3% ($1.61 against $309). Those are gross, pre-expense figures and a calculation, not an NRD statistic — but they frame the trade honestly: steady, unspectacular, and legal everywhere.

Buy in a zone where investor STR permits are still issued. If short-term rental income is the entire thesis, the property has to sit in a commercial or mixed-use district. That points you toward The Gulch, Downtown, and mixed-use pockets rather than a residential East Nashville street.

So is it worth buying?

If "worth buying" means a non-owner-occupied Airbnb on a residential East Nashville street, the answer in 2026 is no — the permit isn't available and won't transfer to you. If it means a sound East Nashville real estate buy, the answer is yes for the right plan: an owner-occupied STR, a long-term hold at a ~6% gross yield, or an appreciation play in a neighborhood like Lockeland Springs that still clears in three days. The mistake is paying an "STR premium" for a house that can never legally hold an investor permit.

FAQ

Can I buy a house in East Nashville and run it as an Airbnb in 2026?

Only as an owner-occupied short-term rental, where you live in the home. New non-owner-occupied (investor) permits are not issued in residential AR2A, R, RS, or RM zones (Metro Codes).

If a listing already has a short-term rental permit, do I get it when I buy?

No. Existing non-owner-occupied permits in residential zones are not transferable when the property is sold or transferred. The permit ends at closing.

Which East Nashville neighborhood has the best value in 2026?

By price per square foot, Inglewood at a $349 median is the value end versus Lockeland Springs at $428, and it shows strong demand — 68% of sales at or above list, median 4 days on market (NRD, June 1, 2026).

What kind of return can a long-term rental earn in East Nashville?

Illustratively, around 6.0–6.3% gross yield in Lockeland Springs and Inglewood based on NRD lease and sales medians. That is a pre-expense gross figure, not net cap rate.

Where can I still get a new investor STR permit in Nashville?

In commercial and mixed-use zones — MUN, MUL, MUG, MUI, CN, CL, CS, DTC, and similar districts — not on residential East Nashville streets.

Thinking through an East Nashville purchase or whether a property can legally hold a short-term rental permit? Get in touch or request a home valuation.