Home Values Rise Amongst A Steady Volume of Sales
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“ How ’ s the market doing ?” remains a frequent question and topic of interest amongst local home owners who ’ ve benefited from a steady rise in values over the last few years .
Since 2020 , when COVID spurred increased interest in owning a rural mountain home , we have witnessed particularly high growth in terms of both sales volume and prices . Locally , we saw average closing price increases in excess of 20 % in both 2021 and 2022 , but we noticed in 2023 average closing sales prices increased slightly less than 10 % year over year . While still a nice gain , it seemed we were returning to a more normal pace . Yet in 2024 , home values are charging upward again .
When comparing home sales in our MLS from June 1st to October 14th for 2023 against 2024 , one can see a couple of things . First the “ Big Three ” of Highlands , Cashiers , and Sapphire accounted for nearly three quarters of all home sales in our MLS ; 34 %, 18 %, and 21 % respectively ; while the other areas of Glenville , Lake Toxaway , Cullowhee , Franklin , Scaly Mountain , etc . shared the remaining sales .
The second curiosity is we experienced nearly the same volume of home sales ( 296 vs 280 ) in the compared time period , but we had a 21 % increase in the average closing price of homes . Here are my thoughts on why .
Early this year many REALTORS , myself included , believed the local real esta
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estate market might be “ held back ” due to the upcoming election and the related uncertainty of what could happen to investment markets , depending on which party wins . Since our local real estate market is highly tied to cash-buyers and therefore tends to mimic the trends in investment markets , it seemed a good assumption that this year would not see exceptional growth in housing demand nor home values . However , the stock market has quietly risen to a recent all-time high , and it seems the coincidental increase in personal wealth has enabled “ Investing at 4118 ” to continue to thrive . Beyond that influence and in light of the very unfortunate storm impacts to our sister communities of Western North Carolina and areas across Florida ; it is possible we may experience even more demand for homes within the bounds of our MLS , which was spared from the horrific impacts realized elsewhere .
As of October 14 , 2024 , we had 416 active homes for sale with 175 ( 42 %) of the homes at a List Price above $ 1,500,000 . 175 is not a-lot of homes to satisfy the potential demand from deep-pocketed buyers who could soon be turning their eyes to find and purchase an available second luxury home here , rather than rebuilding in one of the negatively impacted areas . Time will tell us the answer to an equally important question , “ Where is our market going ?”.