RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — The back country is building, with real estate sprouting up in a city where not too long ago, the only growth was in the crops.

Murfreesboro is a place where many are choosing to build their lives, with many saying real estate there is a real steal.

“We’ve had a lot of retail stores come in, a lot of new restaurants,” said Shauna Mason, a realtor at The Ashton Real Estate Group of REMAX Advantage. “It doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.” Mason says Murfreesboro is now one of the fastest growing cities in Tennessee.

To date, the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce has held 92 ribbon cuttings, celebrations or ground breakings. In 2018, they held 111. “We are on target to hold more ribbon cuttings, celebrations or ground breakings than we have ever held,” said Kelli Beam with the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce.

Her clients, the Hastings, moved to Tennessee from Florida 11 years ago.

“We love it,” Megan Hastings said. “We’re country living with a neighborhood feel…that was a big thing for us, both of us lived on like 25 acres growing up, so having that space to roam is big for us.”

But their perfect location came with a price.

“I wouldn’t say like expensive but it was pricier than we were expecting​,

Hastings said. “This is a lot more expensive than when we bought a house eight years ago.”

Little did the Hastings know, home values would continue to rise– yet, compared to neighboring counties, the price of a home is fairly cheap.

Mason says ​home values in Murfreesboro are supposed to go up about five percent over the next year — adding the average price of a home in Murfreesboro is around $280,000.

According to Zillow, the home value index in Murfreesboro has increased more than 50 percent over the last five years. As of August 2019, the median home value was just over 243,000. Rent currently sits around $1,300.

When it comes to trends, Mason said she’s seeing and selling a lot of HPRs, which is a zoning policy that allows you to build two new houses on one piece of land that previously had one house. She’s also noticed a lot of renovating of cottages and homes.

​”There’s renovating of homes going on down there people moving to that area just for the accessibility to the square​,” Mason said.

Patrick Cammack, senior vice president of economic development at the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce attributes the city’s popularity to the cot of living, the quality of life and the great schools– K-12 schools in Rutherford Co rank among the best in the state.

Cammack says Murfreesboro is prepping for even more growth, specifically mixed-use development.

“The Fountains at Gateway is an amazing local mixed-use development on our greenway and centrally located between I-24, MTSU, and our historic downtown Murfreesboro,” Cammack said. “You will see more of these types of developments as more employers choose to be closer to their employees. This could come as a mix of coworking spaces, satellite offices, or larger headquarters buildings. You are already seeing more headquarters and corporate operations look to our region and our county.”

By the way, if you’re in the market for a new place to live, Niche.com named Rutherford County the third best place in the nation to buy a home.

Niche.com also ranked Rutherford County in the following ways:

#2 for families in TN

#3 best place to live in TN

#3 best public schools in TN

#4 best for Young Professionals in TN

News 2 has special reports on “Murfreesboro: The Good, The Bad, The Future” on Thursday. We’re digging deeper into the impact of the area’s growth and how it is shaping future businesses, traffic, schools, and crime. See our special reports in every newscast and watch our live town hall meeting at 6:30 p.m. Click here for more.