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With the stock market dropping 500 pts yesterday and the other gloomy financial happenings there arent going to be alot of takers for overpriced real estate anywhere.
When we were looking around outside Waynesville for lots, we found some developer selling lots 5 ac and less for around $400,000. Well he has since reduced the prices to $200,000 and still no takers. The guy hails from New England and probably bought the property a few years ago thinking he could make a killing, and now he is about to lose his shirt...
Same thing, but much closer to Asheville in Weaverville. Building lots were priced at $400k for just a fraction of an acre and only a few were sold a year of so ago, but now the developer can't sell the lots for 1/3 his original asking price.
House prices in and around Asheville were artificially (and fraudulently)inflated by 30% or more, but unimproved land and building lots were priced extremely high - sometimes 500% or more above fair value. Existing home prices were a little more in-line with fair value, but even they varied greatly when compared to what they were really worth. I've seen existing houses worth $150k on the market for over $300k, and existing houses worth $350k being marketed for $600k. Likewise, I've seen new houses worth $300k on the market for $700k due mainly to the land it was built on, with the developer touting its location and/or view of the mountains. (Ha, zillions of areas around WNC have views of the mountains!) I blame the local real estate industry, appraisers and Asheville's Chamber of Commerce for the hugely inflated and messed up real estate market around Asheville. I also fault the buyers that came in from Florida, New England and California (where prices are also artificially high) that were willing to pay such inflated prices compared to other areas in North Carolina. They simply did not do their research and homework, thinking that real estate around Asheville was priced less than where they lived. What they failed to understand was that other parts of North Carolina were priced much lower still.
Now there are many houses on the market for sell and very few are selling due to the economy and tighter credit. Some of these houses are new and the developers have over-extended themselves and [some] likely face bankruptcy. Many other houses are second homes to people living in other states that never should have been granted a loan, and they also are in financial difficulty. Then there are older existing houses that are owned by locals and flippers that wanted to take advantage of the ever-increasing inflated market values around Asheville it has been experiencing for many years. Now, it's all coming back to haunt them...
Asheville and the surrounding has been somewhat like Florida, Las Vegas and Southern California with their inflated housing market. I don't know where Asheville's housing market will eventually settle-out, but in my opinion it has a long way to go (drop) before it reaches fair value. With the exception of not being near a small city (Asheville with a population of 60k) the eastern Tennessee mountains is a better choice for scenic beauty and tranquility. And in eastern Tennessee the land and house prices have not been inflated like the Asheville area.
Would you say that the housing prices are dropping, though? They certainly are where I am living now, unfortunately. I am looking for a small townhouse, nothing fabulous , but in a nice location.
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Would you say that the housing prices are dropping, though? They certainly are where I am living now, unfortunately. I am looking for a small townhouse, nothing fabulous , but in a nice location.
Yes, pricing are coming down. But they have a long way to drop around Asheville before they reach fair market value because they were SO overpriced.
A year ago (or so) I sold 2 acres in weaverville for $150,000, I then bought 26 acres for a little less than that and only 40 minutes away in East TN. I then bought an 8 acre piece with with barns, outbuildings, fenced with a small home, garage and pool for $89,000 Why did I buy the 26 acres? I had planned on building, but now I'm going to school, so I placed the 26 acres on the market for a little more than I paid. Hasn't sold yet, due to this crazy market, but tons of interest so far.....wish me luck.
So moral of the story, is if you want to say $100,000 buy in TN vs NC. Though if you have the money to blow, NC is nice.
Asheville home prices are relatively stable and don't seem to have gone down at all. What I'm seeing is homes sitting on the market for much longer periods and houses being rented out by builders, etc, which they couldn't sell at asking prices.
I don't see those builders and homeowners lowering asking prices though. Maybe that will come, but it hasn't yet.
One house near the foot of the mountain on which I live has been vacant and on the market for 1 1/2 years, with an asking price of $325000 and remains unsold. Apparently the owner has no pressure on him/her to sell, and just continues listing it for that price. - That's not unusual around here.
Would you say that the housing prices are dropping, though? They certainly are where I am living now, unfortunately. I am looking for a small townhouse, nothing fabulous , but in a nice location.
Nancy, townhouses in Asheville are hard to find at anything less than $200,000. And those are not in Asheville proper, but in suburbs such as Swannonoa, Arden or Fletcher. Personally I wouldn't buy in Arden or Fletcher since the developments there are so close to the airport. And although the airport is small now, it will grow and airplane noise will grow. - I'll never buy near a commercial airport.
Condominiums in multi-story buildings are more common. I live in a three bedroom condo (Eastwood Village) which is priced for sale at $225000. I rent it. Much of the property in Asheville is offered for rent, since it won't sell for the asking prices in the current market. The remaining property does sell for the asking prices, since it has less competition, or else it remains on the market unsold for years.
The interesting thing to me is how very long property is kept vacant and unsold here in the Asheville area without reducing asking prices. That seems to me to reflect (1) builders who would rather rent their homes than reduce prices; (2) homeowners selling second homes and who feel no pressure at all to sell due to their high net worths.
Will this change? Probably, if the stock market continues to collapse.
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I am looking for a small townhouse, nothing fabulous , but in a nice location.
