ASHEVILLE - As the median sales price for homes in Buncombe County keeps hitting record highs , low inventory has become the "defining feature" of Western North Carolina's housing market, according to a first quarter report from the Asheville-based Mosaic Community Lifestyle Realty.
The first quarter of 2024 saw a median sales price of $443,940 in Buncombe County, and $465,000 in the city of Asheville. The median price in Buncombe was the highest for any first quarter on record for the county, according to the Mosaic report.
The high sales prices come as demand still far outpaces supply, which has remained well-below six months inventory for homes under $1.5 million, indicating a sellers market. The luxury market, above $1.5 million, is the only price range with more than six months of inventory, according to the report.
Interest rates have remained high during the first quarter, at 6.44% for 15-year mortgages during the week of April 25. It's the highest rates have been since the beginning of 2024, according to Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation chartered by Congress in 1970.
Mosaic Community Lifestyle Realty's Owner Mike Figura said the market is feeling "remarkably" similar to 2023, a year that brought record sales prices to the Western North Carolina region.
A recent March report from Canopy MLS, a data service Realtors use to track regional and city housing landscapes, agrees with Figura's report.
"Inventory across the region is still tight, and though supply is increasing and moving in the right direction, we’re still not close to being a healthy, balanced market at six months of supply, and favoring neither buyers nor sellers," wrote Caleb Phillips, a member of the Canopy MLS Board of Directors, in the release.
The low inventory trend comes as some moving companies report that Asheville has one of the highest move-in to move-out ratios. The city also has a "notable" number of people using U-Haul's to move to the area.
More: Buncombe planning board delays STR regulations vote in wake of NC Realtors PR campaign
Missing middle providing solutions?
Recent city of Asheville discussions regarding home prices have centered around updating the Unified Development Ordinance, or UDO, to allow for more "missing middle housing." The ordinances are currently in the process of working their way through Asheville's Planning and Zoning Commission, with a planned City Council vote in September.
Missing middle housing are home types that have been largely absent from the residential market over the last 70 years, such as: duplexes, cottage courts, triplexes, fourplexes, multiplexes and townhomes.
Figura believes the missing middle housing ordinances could have a positive effect on the home market, especially as inventory has been so low in recent years.
"The new construction that's coming online is most exclusively in the higher price ranges," Figura said, noting that the cost of construction and home lots has risen significantly and builders "aren't going to put a tiny house" on current lots.
Instead, the policy changes that focus on allowing empty space on single-family lots to be redeveloped could have an impact on producing more affordable housing.
"In order to justify putting smaller homes up with more accessible prices, you need to be able to put more homes on one single lot," Figura said, describing the variety in missing middle housing as a "good thing for a market."
Median home sales prices for the first quarter of 2024
The following data is from regional Mosaic Community Lifestyle Realty reports.
First quarter median home sales price:
- Asheville: $465,000
- Buncombe County: $444,000
Home sales during the first quarter
- Asheville: 251
- Buncombe County (not including Asheville): 486
More: Asheville-area home prices remain high, as low-inventory indicates sellers market
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Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times .
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Low inventory the 'defining feature' of Asheville home market. Will missing middle help?
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