Asheville, NC

December - 2009

The health of the market is measured by the number of homes in inventory therefore, you must compare the current inventory to the number of sales that has taken place to project the actual number of months supply of homes.

The redundant question is: What is a Healthy Real Estate Market?

Rule of Thumb: That is not always an easy question to answer, but usually, inventory of unsold homes available should not equal more than a 5 to 7 month supply. Asking prices and inventory seem to set the theme.

At the end of the year it is obvious that Asheville is not yet experiencing the "healthy" market we had 2 years ago. In 2008, Asheville and Buncombe County were continuing to hold steady at about 14 months supply, on average. So far, in the last 12 months, the average is right at a 20 month supply.

As indicated below, we have 2.42 times more homes on the market than what a "healthy" market should have. This is a positive decline since March but a negative compared to February 2009.

In Asheville, we are still continuing to see a slow, but small, reduction in home prices, as the inventory has begun to drop from the top of recent high numbers, and the December inventory numbers are moderating. Some of the reduction is caused by weather conditions and not sales or uninterested sellers.

There has been an increase in the number of properties offered under the "short sale" concept, which is where the mortgage holder agrees to let the owner attempt to sell the house for less than what is actually owed, so as to prevent a foreclosure. Many banks are allowing the owners to stay in their homes for extended periods to see if a potential buyer will buy before a foreclosure takes place.

The ongoing area of concern continues to be about the homes over $400,000. The worrisome market is the homes at or over $1 million. The number of sales per month compared to the existing inventory suggests a rather long term for that inventory to either shrink or see prices drop by large percentages.

Sales of homes under $285,000 seem to be stable with only a small excess in inventory. This would indicate that the "average" buyer has plenty of homes to choose from and most of them are at fair market value.

The question is....where are the buyers? January 2009 looks like it will produce the lowest number of units sold in a month in over 12 years. December 2009 sales have been higher than December 2008.

Residential Properties = Single Family Homes, Condos, Townhouses & Mobiles on Owned Land

Copyright by Don Davies©

Per the WNCRMLS as of 02-01-2010. Number of homes sold and total dollar volume will tend to go up for a few more days as transactions clear thru the system.

For more sales data go to The Asheville Market.

Searches on YOUR TERMS!

Please review our new Asheville Real Estate website. Search for foreclosures, short sales, green built, single level living, mountain view or any term that interest you. Just go to the advanced search page and type your search term into the remarks field.

Free Home Staging Service

Other than pricing, staging a home properly is the most critical step in the home selling proccess. We offer a FREE Home Staging service (by a nationally accredited Home Stager) for our furnished listings. For more information about Asheville Home Staging go to Staged Homes of Asheville.

You can design your own kitchen, bathroom, patio...and, at the same time, stamp your signature into concrete. How exciting is that?? If you have been following this series, you will know that our eco-friendly colleagues here in Asheville, the Hub of Green, sure are. Solid and durable, it also is versatile and adaptable to both indoor and outdoor use. As one person put it, " Concrete is the soup du jour of current home trends.

Sellers are finding that including the "new concrete" is an economical and eco-savvy way in which they can update their home prior to putting it on the market.

Green builders (see photo) around town are using concrete in many different ways.

Neighbors doing renovation projects, as well, favor this material.

Buyers are so impressed with kitchen remodeling ideas that include counter tops with integral sinks and backsplashes, or a unique fireplace surround, or patio designs and walkways with that special creative allure . . ..

Artisans are thrilled with the possibilities.

Today's hottest trend adds color, fine-finishes that dazzle, and a chance to express your personal creative stamp.

Other posts in this series include topics such as : concrete flooring and home trends in concrete.HOW would YOU include concrete in your design plans and put YOUR stamp on it?

Heads-Up: The US Green Building Council recently picked concrete as their #1 Choice for Kitchen Counter Tops.

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(*)/'(*) .......... ............Asheville NC Real Estate: LAND in Asheville. Going Green and Eco-Friendly Properties. Expert Tools for Sellers and Buyers of Mountain Homes and Land Legacies. "On the roll for sustainable innovation." © Concrete (Series) - Put Your Stamp On It, 2010. Asheville NC Real Estate Unauthorized reproduction of any information on this site is a violation of existing copyright laws. All rights reserved.

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Ever since I participated in a site evaluation of a Green-Built home, where I first experienced the luster of concrete flooring, I have been fascinated with the possibilities for concrete in residential properties.

Because the home that was being evaluated was complying with HealthyBuilt standards, the concrete used did not generate significant volumes of carbon dioxide (CO2.)

CO2 contributes significantly to greenhouse gas. In this application, the builder carefully had selected concrete the substitutes of fly ash and slag.

What else makes concrete a "green" product?

1.Concrete flooring provides high durability.

2. Concrete flooring is less subject to biological contamination problems.

(Photo taken at site evaluation of an Asheville NC Green Built home.

For buyers and sellers of properties who are thinking about smart residential renovations we are excited about the various types of flooring they may choose to install. Bamboo? Cork? Recycled Hardwood? In terms of environmentally responsible choices, particularly in our indoor environment, for our own home, we are leaning towards concrete as we discuss the topic around the kitchen table.
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Asheville NC Real Estate: Going Green Properties. Expert Tools for Sellers and Buyers of Mountain Homes and Land Legacies. "On the roll for sustainable innovation." See also our Mountain Homes and Land blog. Smart Renovations -Concrete .Copyright © 2010. All Rights Reserved. Asheville NC Real Estate

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