My New Blog

If you like to read about and visualize numbers....

I ran some numbers from January - May, 2006 - 2014, to see the extent of changes in sales through MLS and the change in the MEDIAN sold price for each of those time periods. The High Country Multiple Listing Service, of which I am a member, encompasses the mountainous counties of western North Carolina which contain the small towns of Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, Beech Mountain, Newland, Linville and West Jefferson and Jefferson, North Carolina. 

My market is where a Blue Ridge Parkway runs through it along the Eastern Continental Divide, the home of Appalachian State University and Lees McRae College, and the location of renown outdoor attractions like Grandfather Mountain, Tweetsie Railroad, several ski resorts from Appalachian Ski Mountain to Sugar Mountain to Beech Mountain, ziplines at Seven Devils and Boone, and the Rocky Knob Mountain Bike Park. 

No shocker - sales are down from the high sales year of 2007(558 homes sold in the first five months). Number of sold homes(volume) has recovered from its low of 236 homes sold in the Jan-May 2009, but is still off 31% from sold count of the high year of 2007.  Being off 31% in number of homes sold impacts our local economy greatly. 

A bit of a surprise - the Jan - May 2014 median sold price is down to the LOWEST median sold price going back NINE years when looking at the first five months of each year since 2006.

The median SOLD price has continued to drop and is now at the lowest median sold price since 2006! Jan-May 2014 median sold price in MLS is $190,000, which is down 21% from the high median sold price of $242,000 during Jan - May 2008.

So, while the number of sold homes has increased for the Jan-May period every year since 2009, it is still off 31% from the pinnacle year in 2007.

Bottom line - While still off from 2007 highs, home sales have increased in number in the past few years, but buyers are snapping up less expensive homes.  Any active buyer searching the real estate inventory for homes less than $200,000 in the Boone and Blowing Rock market knows quite painfully the inventory is slim. 

Buyers looking for full time, affordable housing in our area are indicating through their market activity they think this may be their last chance to get a home under $200,000.  They fear prices will begin to increase and inventory will remain scant.

This prompts the question - what are the 'normal' market numbers being used as benchmarks?  Were the crazy lending and speculative building years prior to the recession too abnormal to even use as a benchmark?  Perhaps there will be a new normal.

The number of homes listed for sale has increased about 20% in the past couple of years - there are now more than 2500 homes listed for sale in the High Country Association MLS. The current median listed price of all the 2500+ homes listed for sale is $280,000 (a long ways from the median sold price Jan-May 2014 of $190,000).

The AVERAGE listed price of all homes in MLS as of June 2014 is nearly $420,000.  Discouraging news for full time owner occupants trying to find their place in the mountain sun.  

But, the AVERAGE SOLD price of the 383 homes sold Jan-May 2014 is a reasonable $239,000...so, some buyers were able to find a value among the many high priced homes listed for sale. 

Need help finding a good value home?  Contact me. I have been a REALTOR in the mountains of North Carolina for over 30 years. 

Activity in the real estate market has ratcheted up quickly in the past few months - I have been involved with 16 offers as a buyer agent or listing agent in the past four weeks. Pretty busy for our little mountain towns.