SEPTEMBER 2008

It has always been difficult to say exactly what a "healthy" real estate market should look like. Prices and inventory seem to set the theme and "location, location, location" is not always the final judgement of health or desirability.

In the Asheville area a "normal" real estate market is estimated to be where the housing inventory of homes for sale should be somewhere around 6 to 7 months supply. Asheville and Buncombe County are holding steady at about 15 months supply, on average.

The news nationally, almost constantly, is about the home prices going down as inventory goes up.

In Asheville, we are continuing to see a slow reduction in home prices, as the inventory sits at the top of recent high numbers.

The real area of concern continues to be about the homes over $400,000. The worrisome market is the homes at or over $1 million. The number of sales per month compared to the existing inventory suggests a rather long term for that inventory to either shrink or see prices drop by large percentages.

Sales of homes under $285,000 seem to be stable with only a small excess in inventory. This would indicate that the "average" buyer has plenty of homes to choose from and most of them are at fair market value.

The question is....where are the buyers? It looks like September and October are going to be two of the worst months this year for unit sales, and the inventory usually picks up a little until November.

Residential Properties = Single Family Homes, Condos, Townhouses & Mobiles on Owned Land