Updated February 22, 2010
Mortgage rates hover at 5% for a 30 year fixed, inventory is abundant, and prices are lower than they have been in years.
Changes continue in the mortgage world, but contrary to all the hype, it IS still possible to get a loan! However, I hear from my mortgage advisors that it is likely that rates will begin to
tick upward more significantly after March.
The Asheville area market has been more stable than many markets around the country during the "housing crisis" since fall 2006. Our sales have slowed, and the insane escalation of prices that we were seeing pre-2006 has ceased (thank goodness). Many properties are seeing a drop back to their 2004 value. More "in demand" homes have retained more value but have not appreciated since 2007.
Properties are staying on the market longer (from an average of about 60 days to about 120 days). There are more concessions from sellers (though not always in the form of price concessions -- properties still sell within 90 - 96% of list price) A significant change is that there are more properties on the market for a buyer to choose among!
Sales are strongest in the under $300,000 range, while above that range is moving very slowly but starting to pick up a bit as jumbo loans become more available.
Another year of foreclosure/bank owned properties hitting the market is likely to keep selection high and prices down as 2010 is expected to see more foreclosures than did 2009.
Forecasters still predict an abundance of buyers moving to our area in the next twenty years (70,000 retiring and relocating baby boomers alone), so logic predicts a very strong on-going real estate market in the Asheville area.
Please give me a call or
send me an email if you would like to discuss further the "state of the market."
Margaret
828-216-2300
