Wednesday, August 27, 2008

I know I am a little late writing this post but I thought it is important to know the state of our market here in Henderson County. I wanted to post the stats for June & July of 2008 vs 2007. You better sit down.

According to the WNC Regional MLS in the Residential section there were 192 Transactions in June of 2007 VS 112 in 2008 a 43% reduction. The total sale price of those transactions in 2007 was $49,293,827 VS $29,588,322 a 40% reduction and the listings were on the market 33% longer in 2008 vs 2007.

The July stats. 190 transactions in 2007 vs 107 in 2008 a 44% reduction. A $50,981,934 total sale price in 2007 vs $25,501,696 in 2008 a 50% reduction and was on the market 36% longer.

So far this year, 2008, has seen the total transactions fall by 33% and volume fall by 39% and the marketing time increase by 21%. This through 07/31/2008.

As you can see this is a buyers market and is a very good time to buy! Right now there are 1785 active Residential homes on the market in Henderson County. Let me help you find the one that makes sense for you!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Yesterday I received an interesting email from Michael Arrowood about the Rails to Trails post. In his email he told me about an opposition group called Henderson-Transylvania County Railroad Right of Way property Owners Association. In their statement they talk about property owners losing portions of their land (the portion in the Railroad Right of Way). They also talk about loss of privacy and maybe even vandalism of their property. My personal view of the Rails to Trails concept is favorable especially in this wonderful area we live in. As a Real Estate Professional I also believe adjoining properties to the rails would increase in value as opposed to having an active track. In this particular track as Mr. Arrowood points out this Right of Way was formed in 1891. How many of you want an active line again? One of Brevard officials problem with turning the track over is that they don't want to loose an option for future business. The use of the track in the past was limited to one train traveling back & forth from Hendersonville to Brevard at about 10:00am & 3:00pm. How many of the adjoining property owners would want that doubled or more in the future. I am not saying that would happen but who knows! I haven't heard anything new about this since I read the newspaper article in April. Has anyone else? I would love to keep the dialog moving!

Friday, April 11, 2008

The State of the Henderson County Real Estate Market!

Well, we have heard from around the country about how terrible their markets are. We have heard about record breaking foreclosures around the country. We in Henderson County have always felt that what happens in other areas don't really affect us here. Right? Or Wrong? Here are some hard facts about Henderson County. In 2007 in all areas of residential real estate, single family homes, condominiums, townhouses, and pre-construction, there were 428 transactions from January 1, 2007 to March 31, 2007 with a total dollar volume of $103,894,552. These figures are from my multiple listing service, Western North Carolina Regional Multiple Listing Service. These are the properties that were sold with the Help of Realtors and do not include private sales. From January 1, 2008 to March 31, 2008 there was a drop to 303 transactions which is down almost 30% and the dollar volume for the same time frame in 2008 was down to $65,008,936 which equates to an almost 37% reduction in value. These figures came as a bit of a surprise. I knew from my own business that the market was down but this was more then I thought. Fortunately for us unlike some other regions if a seller wants to sell their home to move on to other things they can. Please read my previous post for sellers this is more true now then ever. Sellers need to make their property stand out on paper and in person. We have record setting inventory which means tremendous competition out there for the sellers. Sellers also will have to leave the thought process where they say so and so down the street sold their home for $x amount and my home is nicer. They need to look to a real estate expert who can show them what has sold the most recently compare their home to the competition and come up with a list price and other marketing techniques that will show their home as a better value. Call me I can show you how to succeed in today's market!