The numbers don't lie.

Asheville can now claim to be a part of the market shift. When you look at the first 5 months of this year compared to the same period last year, it doesn't look so bad, but if you look at just April and May you will discover the market to be down 20% in closed volume from last year at the same time. Prices have held steady with a slight up tic, but listings have balooned to a record levels in WNCMLS with over 6400 properties on the market.

New home sales are suffering the most with over 4 months as the average "time on market."


It is interesting to note that with all this bad news, the numbers really indicate that business is where it was 5 years ago, which was a steady solid business a temperate growth.


Watch for the next wave of new condos, townhouses, and homes this summer. If the weather is any indication it's going to be a long dry, hot real estate summer.

Comments on the news

As insulated as those of us who work in the Asheville RE market are, I can't help but comment on the media's attention to how much full service realtors make vs. discounters. CBS has found a way to jump on the bandwagon of "let's get the greedy realtor." Not only was much of the information one sided and out and out wrong, it painted a picture of the professional Realtor as someone who does nothing to make tons of money.

It is always the job of the professional to explain what the Value Proposition is: For sellers this includes:
1. Needs analysis
2. Pricing strategy
3. Property preparation
4. Marketing strategy
5. Receiving an offer
6. Negotiationg to sell
7. Selling
8. Pre-close preparation
9. Closing
10. Post Closing

This is not a 1-2-3 operation. In future posts, I will explore some of these propositions and show how the full service professional can actually get MORE money for the seller than the discounter can.

Market moves a little

Well, after the recent "Chicken Little the Sky is falling" article in the AC-T, everybody is concerned that Asheville is finally feeling the effects of the RE market throughout the country. And while listings are up and number of sales are down, the market is acting more normal NOW than in the past. Prices are up because the better properties are selling well. It still is a great time to buy here. There are many new projects on the drawing boards or coming out of the ground and when you compare these to other cities, you find real value here.

The city and county continue to run around and pass rules about who can't build here and can't build there, but there is no coordination. Now afforable housing says we want our trailers wherever we want to put them. The growth goes on.....