What $400K Buys in Gallatin vs Hendersonville TN: 404 vs 253 Sales and a 35-Year Age Gap (2026)

At $400,000, Gallatin and Hendersonville sell almost the same size house. The difference is age: the typical Gallatin home in this band was built in 2024, the typical Hendersonville home in 1989.

What $400K buys in Gallatin vs Hendersonville is not a story about square footage. Over the 12 months from September 26, 2025 through September 25, 2026, Gallatin closed 404 homes between $350,000 and $450,000 at a median of 1,811 square feet. Hendersonville closed 253 in the same band at a median of 1,733 square feet. That is only 78 square feet apart.

What separates them is the year the house went up. The median Gallatin home in the band was built in 2024 and half were new construction. The median Hendersonville home in the band was built in 1989, a 35-year gap, and most came with a larger lot and fewer HOA rules.

I am Ryan Beals, and I was born and raised in Gallatin and Hendersonville. This post lays out the $350,000 to $450,000 band in both cities on the same dates and the same basis, so you can see which trade fits you before you tour.

Where $400K Sits in Each Market

The citywide medians frame everything. Gallatin closed 1,516 sales at a median of $435,000, and Hendersonville closed 1,101 at a median of $535,000. That $100,000 gap means the typical Hendersonville sale cost about 23 percent more.

So a $400,000 buyer is shopping just under the middle of the Gallatin market and well below the middle of the Hendersonville market. The band made up 26.6 percent of Gallatin's sales and 23.0 percent of Hendersonville's. Gallatin also had far more below it, 405 sales under $350,000 against 140 in Hendersonville, which gives a Gallatin buyer room to step down if rates or a sale timeline force it.

What $400K Buys in Gallatin

In Gallatin the band is a new construction market. 203 of the 404 sales, 50.2 percent, were new, and 255 were built in 2020 or later. The median was $399,990 for 1,811 square feet at $215.15 per square foot, usually three bedrooms on a 0.23 acre lot where acreage was reported.

Nexus drove the volume. Counting Nexus North and Nexus South together with the original Nexus sections, it closed 80 band sales, 77 of them new, at a median of 1,707 square feet. Cumberland Landing followed with 26, all new, then Langford Farms with 23, The Knoll at Fairvue with 20 and Winston Place with 13.

Resale is the other half, and it is where a little more lot comes in. Site-built resales in the band had a median lot of 0.26 acre. Patterson Farms sold 8 resales here at a median year built of 2020, Cumberland Place sold 6 and Fairway Farms sold 5, and Stratford Park offers a Liberty Creek zoned option. The guide to Gallatin neighborhoods at this budget goes community by community, and buyers who are downsizing can see what downsizers get at this price in Gallatin.

The trade-off in Gallatin is the HOA. 81.2 percent of band sales carried an association fee, at a median of $1,620 a year. The hidden costs of buying in Gallatin covers dues, flood zones and the other line items that never show up in the list price.

What $400K Buys in Hendersonville

In Hendersonville the same budget mostly buys an established home. Only 31 of the 253 band sales, 12.3 percent, were new construction, and 161 were built before 2000. The median was $399,900 for 1,733 square feet at $231.42 per square foot, usually three bedrooms on a 0.34 acre lot.

Colonial Acres led with 21 band sales across all of its sections, at a median year built of 1972. Anderson Park was the new construction exception with 16 sales, 13 of them new. Glen Oak, counting every section, and Durham Farms each had 12, with the Durham Farms sales all resales at a median year built of 2021. Mansker Farms had 8 and Nearwater Place had 7.

HOAs are less common here, 45.1 percent of band sales, but the ones that exist cost more: a median of $2,340 a year, $720 more than in Gallatin. Many of those are townhomes or amenity communities, while the older subdivisions often have no association at all. For a deeper look at why the age gap matters more than the size gap, see why the same budget goes further in Gallatin than Hendersonville.

Same Price, Different Price Per Foot

Hendersonville sold at $16.27 more per square foot in the band, $231.42 against $215.15. Because new construction is so much more common in Gallatin, I checked whether that mix explains it. It does not. Site-built resales alone were $231.32 per foot in Hendersonville and $217.51 in Gallatin, so the per-foot premium follows the Hendersonville address, not the age of the homes.

Negotiating room also differs. The median band sale in Gallatin closed at 100 percent of list price, and 37.9 percent closed below list. In Hendersonville the median was 99.1 percent and 53.8 percent closed below list. Builders make up half of Gallatin's band and tend to hold price and offer incentives instead, while Hendersonville resale sellers are more likely to move on price itself.

The objection I hear most at this budget is that Hendersonville feels out of reach. My answer is that it is not out of reach, it just buys a different kind of house. I ask buyers to rank what matters most before we tour: the age of the home, the yard and the street, and the drive they will make every morning. Then we see a newer Gallatin home and an established Hendersonville home at the same price on the same afternoon, and the trade-off usually becomes obvious once both are fresh in mind.

What $400K Buys in Gallatin vs Hendersonville: Market Data

Data from RealTracs MLS. Closed sales, all property types, September 26, 2025 through September 25, 2026; prior 12 months September 26, 2024 through September 25, 2025, same basis. Gallatin is the City of Gallatin and Hendersonville is the City of Hendersonville, both Sumner County, on the same dates. The band is sales from $350,000 to $450,000 inclusive. New construction means an MLS Built Info of New, To Be Built or Model. HOA dues are converted to a yearly figure from the reported monthly, quarterly or annual fee, among sales with a fee. Lot size counts only sales that reported acreage. Subdivision counts include every phase and section of the same community.

Active, Coming Soon & Under Contract in Gallatin TN ($350K to $450K)

Recently Sold in Gallatin TN, $350K to $450K (Past 12 Months)

Active, Coming Soon & Under Contract in Hendersonville TN ($350K to $450K)

Recently Sold in Hendersonville TN, $350K to $450K (Past 12 Months)

How the $400K Band Changed Year Over Year

A year ago Gallatin was closing at a citywide median of $410,000. Today that number is $435,000, up 6.1 percent. Hendersonville went from $542,250 to $535,000, down 1.3 percent. That shrank the gap between the two cities from $132,250 to $100,000, which tells you Gallatin is climbing toward Hendersonville rather than Hendersonville coming down.

Inside the band, prices barely moved. Gallatin's band median was $398,990 a year earlier and $399,990 now, on 429 sales then and 404 now. Hendersonville's was $400,000 then and $399,900 now, on 257 and 253. Per square foot, Gallatin's band eased 1.4 percent, from $218.14 to $215.15, as new construction slipped from 54.1 percent of band sales to 50.2 percent. Hendersonville's band rose 1.4 percent, from $228.14 to $231.42.

The practical read: as Gallatin's median climbs, fewer of its sales land at $400,000, while Hendersonville's band has stayed about the same size. Buyers who want Gallatin new construction at this price will find a little less of it than a year ago.

Who Is Actually Buying in Sumner County at $400K, and When They Look

In Gallatin the band draws first-time buyers who want new construction without a Nashville price, move-up buyers selling a starter townhome, and downsizers who want a newer, single-level plan. In Hendersonville it draws buyers who want to be closer to Old Hickory Lake, Indian Lake Boulevard shopping and the SR 386 corridor, and who are fine updating a kitchen to get a larger lot on an established street.

The commute is a rough range in both cities. From Gallatin, Vietnam Veterans Boulevard (SR 386) to I-65 gets you to downtown Nashville in typically 45 to 55 minutes most mornings, and eastern Gallatin buyers should test the Long Hollow Pike and Highway 109 interchange at rush hour. From much of Hendersonville, SR 386 to I-65 or Gallatin Pike (US-31E) typically runs 40 to 50 minutes. Vanderbilt University Medical Center and HCA Healthcare are common destinations from both. Drive your own route at the hour you would actually commute.

Buyers stretching past this band can see what a bigger budget buys in Hendersonville, and buyers looking north for more house can compare White House vs Hendersonville or see what a similar budget buys in White House. Below the band in Gallatin, The Towns at Red River is a townhome option near downtown.

School Assignments in the $400K Band

By MLS assignment, Gallatin's band sales were zoned mostly to Gallatin Senior High, 298 of 404, with 53 each in the Station Camp and Liberty Creek zones. Hendersonville's were zoned to Hendersonville High (124), Beech (101) and Station Camp (26). In both cities a zone line can run between two subdivisions at the same price, so the street matters as much as the city. The Sumner County school zone guide lays out each zone on the same basis. Zones can change, so verify any address with Sumner County Schools before you write an offer.

Why Work with Ryan Beals on a Gallatin or Hendersonville Move

I grew up in both of these towns and watched the east side of Gallatin fill in with communities like Cumberland Landing, so I know which new streets feed which zones and which older Hendersonville streets hold their value. I start every $400,000 search with the same-band comparison, a house built in 2024 against one built in 1989 at the same price, because the citywide medians hide it.

My approach is data first and pressure never. If you are selling a home in one city and buying in the other, the timing and the comps both matter. Call me at 629-263-0248 and I will pull the closed sales for your budget.

Frequently Asked Questions