April showers bring may flowers brings uptick in RE sales in Asheville

The weather is nice and the stats have definitely moved in the right direction. While certainly not as good as last year, Asheville did see the Absorption Rate have at about 17 months, down from 19 months in February. We also saw a rise in average home price as well as median price. We will need to see a trend in this to say for sure that home prices have hit bottom, so we will wait until the end of May to be sure. On the flip side the number of homes on the market continues to rise and we have now topped 8,000 residential properties in Western North Carolina. Two years ago we had 2600. What a difference. A lot of buyers in the market now and with a low amount of foreclosures, we should see a change in the Asheville and surrounding area market.

Asheville Real Estate Market uptics

Well, Easter came early and so did the buyers. The daffodils are blooming and a rush of savey buyers have hit the market. The number of contracts written in the month of march doubled February and almost reach the levels of last year at this time. Asheville buyers have many choices as there is still almost 20 months of inventory. The cream of the crop are selling at realistic prices and in many cases there are multiple offers on those properties priced to sell.

Sellers have figured out if you want to sell your house need curb appeal inside and out. A coat of paint, some mulch and de-clutter will attract buyers. While there is still a lot of investors and first time home buyers out there, the regular buyer in back in the market.

The new buyers are not from the traditional Florida source but from those markets that have not been hit too hard. Smart move on there part, especially with interest rates hovering around 5.75%.

If you are a buyer of Asheville Real Estate maybe you should start looking NOW.

Michael

www.kellerwilliamsasheville.com

SAME OL', Same OL'

The market remains sluggish, but does show some signs of life. Asheville is alive with activity but just not real estate. Spring has begun and houses will start to look more appealing. This will help with first time home buyers. The upper end of the market is still pretty good. The worst part of the market is the middle as homes in the $200-300,000 range as the number of homes coming on the market continue to outnumber the ones sold. Until the supply starts equaling the demand we will continue to see a downward pressure on home prices.

We will report on March numbers in early April.

Asheville Real Estate follows the country Trend

As the weather gets better more deals are being made, but February followed the country trend. We now have over 20 months of inventory currently on the market. This means that sales cannot keep up with the number of houses listed. Average sales price continues to drop. March's contracts look better, but not significantly. What is selling? Homes that are priced right. If they are priced right in this market they sell within 7 days. After that, well, they become one of many. Some popular developments like Biltmore Lake have over 50 homes on the market from $399,000-599,000. Biltmore park has over 25 home on the market. These locations were the hot location a year ago. Now they are at the most difficult price point.
Buyers, where to they come from? Mostly they are investors or first time home buyers. The retiree market has temporarily halted due to retirees inability to sell their homes. When they do they buy quickly. We look for some improvement in March, but we will see.

Michael

www.kellerwilliamsasheville.com

Real Estate in Asheville continues national trend

I said it before but I cannot impress enough on potential buyers to take this opportunity to check out houses you thought you couldn't afford. If you are an investor, you may never see this opportunity again. Rents have not decreased and there is still a demand for a 3 bedroom 2 bath home in a popular school district. Rents will range from 1100-1300 so do the math. Ask for buy downs in the rates as they will increase your cash flow.

Seller take note: Listen to your Real Estate Agent! They know the immediate market and will give you the best advice to be ahead of the curve. Price it right today and you will loose less then you might tomorrow. Make your house look good and take care of repairs. There are too many choice for buyers today. They do not need a fixer upper.

The total volume for our market is down 31% for the first two months compared to last year.

This is not a disaster but it is time to look hard at selling and buying prices.

www.kellerwilliamsasheville.com

BEST CASE TO BUY REAL ESTATE IN ASHEVILLE

A recent article in the February 25 issue of Time Magazine gave the case against waiting to buy a house. Basically they said that if you are emotionally ready to be a homeowner, have good credit, plan to stay put for five years and have been waiting for the perfect entry point, it's time to get serious--before and inevitable rise in interest rates wipes out your atvantage. "The thing that will make home prices stop falling is the very same thing that will push mortgage rates higher," says Jim Svinth, chief economist at Lending Tree. So anything you gain by a further drop in prices might be offset by rising financing costs.
Consider a typical home that sells for $218,900. You put down 20% and get a 30 year fixed rate mortgage at today's rate of 5.5%. Monthy principal and interest come to $994.31 Let's say that 12 months from now same house goes for 10% less or $197,010. But by then the recession is history and the Fed is jacking up rates to stem inflation. If mortgage costs rise just half a point, to 6% your monthly payment would be $994.94 and you would have saved nothing. Meanwhile, home prices might steady and sellers might become less willing to negotitiate. And you have spent a year living someplace you would rather not be.
Take advantage now of high inventory and low rates. With this scenario you really can't fail to come out on top.

www.kellerwilliamsasheville.com

Cold month of Real Estate in Asheville

The month of January is over and the closed business is down 35% over last year. The written or new contracts is down only 15% which is an improvement over previous months. How the market plays out in the winter months is always affected by weather. When it is warm and sunny people buy homes. When it is cold, snowy or icy, they stay home. Let's hope Asheville" Real Estate market has a bright sunny warm future. Next week an analysis on home prices in the Asheville market.

Michael

www.kellerwilliamsasheville.com