During September, High Country Realtors® saw similar numbers in the four counties compared to August. Average Days on Market has ticked upward for all counties in our area, which may show buyers are affected by rising interest rates. Inventory is still steady and closed sales are keeping pace. Overall, our market is still strong in the High Country with 183 single-family sales closed during September, in our four county areas of Avery, Alleghany, Ashe & Watauga. The maximum sale was $4,000,000 and the minimum was at $50,000 with a median of $500,000 overall. According to Freddie Mac’s quarterly housing report issued in September “market confidence fell below 50% for the first time since tracking began in March 2020.” “46% are confident the housing market will remain strong over the next year. This is down five percentage points from second quarter this year.”
Inventory: Looking at inventory, in the High Country MLS area, 431 single family homes were active during September with 160 of those being new listings that came on the market during the month equating to a 2.4 months’ supply of Inventory. Median days of listing on market are holding steady at around 50 days but inching up.
Alleghany County: REALTORS® Sold 12 homes with a median sales price of $265,000 totaling a joint price of $3.7 Million overall.
Ashe County: REALTORS® Sold 40 homes with a median sales price of $374,950 totaling a joint price of $15.6 million overall.
Avery County: REALTORS® Sold 35 homes with a median sales price of $630,000 totaling a joint price of $27.9 million. Avery County median price was up 100% compared to August due to the number of large sells in September.
Watauga County: REALTORS® Sold 96 homes with a median sales price of $562,500 totaling a joint price of $70.8 million.
Land Sales: REALTORS® recorded ninety-eight land sales in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, and Watauga in total for September equaling $9.7 million. With the minimum being $3,000, and maximum being $715,000. Of the ninety-eight sales, the average sale price to list price ratio is 88.6%. The months’ supply of inventory for land in September shows 18.0 months, much more than the 2.4 months supply of single family homes.
Commercial Sales: In September, the High Country MLS recorded four commercial sales with two in Ashe County, and two in Watauga County; totaling a combined $4 million overall. Of all four sales, the average of sale price to list price ratio was 95.0%
Interest Rates: According to online source “Freddie Mac Mortgage Rates Pullback but Remain High.” As of October 6, the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.66%, down a bit from 6.7% the first week of October. The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage decreased by 0.06 percentage points to 5.90% as of October 6. The adjustable rate on a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage moved up 0.06 percentage points to 5.36%.