Investing in Tennessee

Last reviewed 20 October 2026. Figures carry their publisher and their date. Where a figure could not be sourced, it is named at the foot of the page rather than estimated.

3 min read

General information, not advice. State landlord and tenant law, state tax and the restrictions below change often and are in active litigation in several states. Nothing here is legal advice. Before you commit, retain a licensed attorney in the state where the property sits.

Prices

$373,833Median sale price, all property types, September 2026, down 0.31% on the year.Source: Redfin, Tennessee housing market (all property types), September 2026

$1,492Average homeowners insurance premium, twenty third of the states in that edition.Source: Insurance Information Institute, average premiums for homeowners insurance by state, from NAIC data, 2022 data, the latest NAIC edition

For context, the national median for existing single family homes was $434,900 in the second quarter of 2026, up 1.5% on the year. Source: NAR, existing single family home prices by metro area, second quarter 2026, published 4 August 2026

Insurance

The NAIC figure above is from 2022, the latest edition of that survey, and it is the only series that is comparable across all states. Where a state regulator publishes something more recent, it is given below, but regulator figures use their own methods and cannot be compared with the NAIC series or with each other.

No more recent state regulator figure was obtained for this state.

Letting the property

Statutory notice periods only. They are not the same as how long an eviction takes in practice, which we did not establish for this state.
Item	Position
Rent regulation	Local rent control is preempted by statute. Source: T.C.A. 66-35-102, via Justia, mirror text
Notice for unpaid rent	14 days, reduced to 7 on a repeat default within six months. Whether the statute applies to a given county depends on the scope of the state’s Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, which we did not verify. Source: T.C.A. 66-28-505, via Justia, mirror text
Security deposit cap	Not found.

Restrictions by nationality

This is the fastest moving area on the site. One tracker counted 26 states with 63 such laws on 13 August 2026, with eight lawsuits running. Source: Committee of 100, state property ownership restrictions database, updated 12 August 2026

Tennessee has a law restricting purchases by nationality.

Source: National Agricultural Law Center, Tennessee state summary, consulted 20 October 2026
Item	Position
Statute	T.C.A. 66-2-301 to 66-2-309
Effective	1 January 2025, with amendments in 2026 under HB 1788 and SB 2424 whose dates we could not confirm
Countries named	countries listed in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, at 22 C.F.R. 126.1
What it covers	Agricultural land is barred to prohibited foreign parties. Non agricultural land is barred to businesses controlled by such parties. Foreign residents are excluded from the prohibition.
Where the courts stand	One suit, Walton Tennessee LLC against the state. We could not establish its status.

Several of these statutes are under constitutional challenge and some have been amended since enactment. Treat anything here as a pointer to the statute, not as a statement of what applies to you today, and have a licensed attorney in the state confirm the current position before you sign.

What we could not verify

The effective average property tax rate for the state.
Any statutory cap on security deposits.
The scope of the state’s landlord and tenant act by county.
The status of Walton Tennessee LLC against the state, and the content of the 2026 amendments.