November Real Estate Market Update for the Asheville, NC Area
November 11, 2024
What a season it has been in the Asheville area! On September 27, our region was rocked by Hurricane Helene. In the month and a half since, we have moved from rescue to recovery to rebuilding. It took several weeks to get reliable internet connectivity, so of course we did not update this page in October. Also, this page is focused solely on real estate trends in the Asheville market. For more updates on Hurricane Helene and how you can can help, read our Helene update.
Note: In the graphs below, the Asheville MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) includes Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, and Madison Counties.
Interest Rate Update
After the Fed lowered rates in September, we saw a temporary decline to nearly 6% for a 30-year rate, but rates then spiked to over 7%. Now that the Fed has reduced rates again at its November meeting by another quarter point, rates have dropped to just under 7%. Hopefully, we’ll see a steady decline over then next few weeks to help buyers afford new mortgages.
Inventory
After Helene, there was widespread damage to roads and homes. Many sellers took their homes off the market to make repairs or wait for roads to be cleared. Some of these listings have come back on the market, but some will remain off the market through the winter. It is not unusual for listings to be withdrawn from MLS during the holidays. For those homes still on the market, there is minimal competition. However, we also had a down tourism season in October, which is usually a busy time of year for Western North Carolina.
Months Supply
There is still enough buyer activity to cause the months supply of homes for sale to decrease. While the market for second homes and vacation properties is slower right now (due to lack of tourism in the Asheville area), there is movement within the market among locals. As cleanup from the storm continues, we expect additional demand from out-of-area buyers to return.
New Listings
The drop in new listings is typical of this time of year. As Realtors, we often look forward to the holiday season, as it provides a bit of a break from a busy year. Some of this listing decline is due to Helene, but overall these numbers are in line with previous years, albeit about a month earlier than usual.
Closed Sales (Units)
The number of closed sales was down compared to October 2024, which is likely due to a few factors – high prices and high interest rates, and a lower of number of shoppers after Helene. Interestingly, our office only had one contract fall through due to the storm.
Negotiation
Negotiation is still happening, with sales prices averaging right around 95-96% of list price.
Home Prices
We have all been curious to see what Helene will do to home prices. With only one month of data since the storm, it’s still too early to say what impact the storm will have on the market, but average home prices have not come down. We do know that short-term rentals (especially furnished) are in high demand as displaced homeowners and renters move to non-damaged housing. Some housing stock has been significantly damaged or destroyed, reducing the overall inventory in the market. Of course, we’ll continue to monitor these trends over the next few months.
Land Sales
Closed land sales dropped in October. We expect that will likely continue into the winter because we didn’t have many tourists here in October to look at building lots.
Talk to a Local Agent About the Asheville Real Estate Market
Please feel free to contact us to speak with a local Asheville real estate agent about the real estate market in Asheville, NC and the surrounding areas.
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