Home price figures just released from the federal government show what many of us at EcoSteward Realty had suspected, namely that while sales volume of residential homes is down compared to last year, home prices in the Asheville area have kept appreciating.  

Asheville area homes had the ninth-highest appreciation rate in the country over the past year, according to federal figures released Thursday. The rise in values comes despite a sharp drop in the number of homes sold. Single-family homes in the Asheville metropolitan statistical area - Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson and Madison counties - increased 9.4 percent in value over the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, according to figures from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

So while the Asheville market is seeing a slowdown like much of the country, this area remains one market that many people are still wanting to live and/or invest in. My sense that the primary reason we are seeing a slowdown in home sales is that many folks who are wanting to move here from other areas in the country are unable to sell their existing homes. Once the national market begins to pick up, I believe we will see a huge increase in home sales and prices.   

At EcoSteward we have not really seen any drop in clients looking for land. A quite a number of customers are looking to buy now and build in 2-5 years for retirement or a vacation home.   If you can swing a deal like that now, GO FOR IT, the timing is perfect!