Both the home and land markets are moving in ways that are typical of past Spring markets in the mountains. Both in Watauga and Ashe, more homes are coming on the market, as is true of land, as well. The average and sold values of homes is up in both Ashe and Watauga. The number sold was up a bit for Watauga; down a bit for Ashe. The Odds of Selling in both counties are down, but just a smidgen. The number of months inventory in both counties is about 5.5 months. The standard wisdom in the real estate world is when the number of months inventory is at or above 6 months, you’re in a buyers’ market. That idea doesn’t seem likely for our market because the inventory remains low [269 homes active in Watauga, 111 active in Ashe], but of course it varies by price range. We’ll look more closely at that in two weeks.
For land, the active inventory is up by about 100 parcels, though that is 100 less parcels than a year ago. 158 new listings came on in April. The number sold was less in April than March, but I’d be surprised is that number does not increase now that Spring is here, and soon summer. The more amazing aspect of land sales, in my experience, is that right now they are selling for 90% of list price. Most of the time I’ve been in real estate, the list-to-sell ratio has hovered around 80%. That is a definite indication of buyer interest.
