Asheville region sees a slight uptick in supply, while sales continued to fall in October

Press release from Canopy Realtor Association:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Home sales in the Asheville MSA and surrounding counties, continued to fall in October. The region’s 13 counties, where Canopy MLS tracks housing data, showed a 20.4 percent year-over-year decline, with 985 homes sold during the month. Sales compared to the previous month (Sept. 2022) were down 11.6 percent. October marks ten months of home sales declines as falling demand continues to signal buyers’ disdain for rising rates and prices.

At the end of October, year-to-date figures showed more than 10,500 homes have been sold this year, and current pacing suggests the region is on track to end the year with close to 12,000 home sales, similar to yearend 2019.  Housing statistics included in this report are completed transactions that include single-family and condo/townhomes only, according to data from Canopy MLS.

Buyer demand as displayed by pending contracts, fell 27.3 percent year-over-year as buyers drove 993 homes under contract during the month. Contract activity compared to September 2022 was down 5.2 percent, which means future sales will be weaker. Showing reports, which monitors buyer interest and foot-traffic was also weaker than previous months, with listings in Buncombe County averaging 4.5 shows (potential buyers) per listing, with the majority of showing activity focused in the city of Asheville. Henderson County, another area of high demand, trailed Buncombe’s activity, with area listings seeing 3.8 showings per listing.

“At this point, the region’s home sales not only reflect the serious buyers and sellers that are still looking for homes, but also its important to remember the seasonality that’s typical at this time of year for our area, said Brian Cagle, a Canopy MLS Board of Director, and VP/Managing Broker Allen Tate/Beverly-Hanks Realtors®. “The sliver-lining to slower sales is that homebuyers no longer need to move at a frantic pace to find a home, inventory is increasing in several areas and prices are starting to soften a bit. Realtors® continue to be the consumer’s best resource for navigating the market and overcoming obstacles to purchase.”

New listing activity, which signals seller confidence, continued to fall in October, declining 19.3 percent year-over-year with 1,151 homes listed. Month-over-month new listings are also down 7 percent. The slowing market, allows more inventory and supply to accumulate overtime, which should allow for some price cooling over next year.

Inventory at report time decreased 4.6 percent year-over-year leaving 2,3030homes for sale or 2.2 months’ supply, which is up 10 percent when compared to last year and is up compared to last month, when there were 2.1 months of supply.

Still, supply and inventory continue to be constrained which has caused prices to continue rising. However, because of slow but steady increases in inventory, some price softening is occurring in isolated pockets across the region. For example, both the median and average sales prices declined by 5 percent year-over-year in Haywood County, which is a part of the Asheville MSA.

Cagle continued, “Buyers need to understand that this is still a seller’s market and that we are long way from being a balanced market at six months of supply. And even though prices may be falling in some pockets of the region, we don’t expect to see prices falling too dramatically, as metro-Asheville continues to be the largest draw for buyers seeking homes in the region.”

Overall, however the region’s prices are still slowly rising. Both the median sales price ($380,000) and the average sales price ($456,689) rose 10.1 percent and 4.1 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price rose 12.6 percent to $525,183 this past October. This brought the original list price to sales price measure for the region down 2.2 percent to 95.2 percent, as seller’s control of the market continues to shift.

The region’s homes are still selling faster than last year, as the time from listing to close in October 2022 was 87 days, compared to 83 days in October 2021. Days on market until sale, the metric, which accrues for “Active” and “Under-contract-show” statuses, showed homes averaged 37 days on market until sale compared to 33 days in October 2021.

Asheville MSA

October home sales mirrored the region, with closings down 23.1 percent year-over-year as 631 homes compared to 821 this time last year. Pending contracts were down 27.9 percent year-over-year as buyers droved 654 homes under contract compared to 907 in October 2021. New listing activity was down 20.2 percent year-over-year with 761 newly listed homes added to the market compared to 954 new listings during the same period last year. At report time there were 1,437 homes for sale, a 6.1 percent year-over-year decline however months of supply rose 10.5 percent year-over-year to 2.1 months of supply versus 1.9 months in October 2021. Both the median sales price ($415,000) and the average sales price ($492,819) rose 10.4 percent and 6 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price increased 12.8 percent to $571,802. The original list price to sales price received dipped 1.8 percent year-over-year to 96.1 percent, while days on market increased 16.1 percent, with homes averaging 36 days on market compared to 31 days on market in October 2022.

Buncombe County closed sales in October fell 22.6 percent to 350 homes sold compared to 452 sold this time last year. Pending contract activity declined 28.9 percent year-over-year as 352 homes went under contract compared to 495 in October 2021. New listings also declined 21.7 percent year-over-year with 422 homes brought to market during the month. Still inventory was down at report time 9.5 percent year-over-year leaving 731 homes for sale. But months of supply increased 11.1 percent from 1.8 months of supply last October, to 2 months of supply. Still prices increased. Both the median sales price ($444,083) and the average sales price ($546,250) increased 11 percent and 4.3 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price increased 14.3 percent to $645,023. This brought the original list price to sales price measure to 96.9 percent while days on market showed homes on market longer (33.3% increase) to 36 days in October 2022.

Haywood County closed sales in October slipped 23.6 percent year-over-year as 97 homes sold versus 127 that sold in October 2021. Contract activity declined 3.8 percent year-over-year as 125 homes went under contract during the month. New listing activity was down by 11.6 percent, as 130 homes were added to the market in October.  At report time inventory increased 9.5 percent to 277 homes for sale compared to 253 homes that were for sale in October 2021. Months of supply also increased, rising 28.6 percent to 2.7 months of supply this past month compared to 2.1 months a year ago. Surprisingly prices soften. Both the median sales price ($305,500) and the average sales price ($356,924) declined 5.4 percent and 5.1 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price increased 2.9 percent to $434,141. This brought the original list price to sales price measure down to 93.4 percent in October, while days on market until sale declined 7.1 percent to 39 days in October versus 42 days on market this time last year.

Henderson County home sales declined 27.2 percent year-over-year as 155 homes sold compared to 213 that sold in October 2021. Contract activity declined sharply, falling 41.3 percent year-over-year with 145 homes going under contract during the month, while new listing activity decereased 22.7 percent year-over-year as 174 homes listed during the month compared to 225 that were listed this time last year. Inventory was down 10.3 percent year-over-year, showing 347 homes for sale or 2 months of supply.  Last October there was only 1.8 months of supply.  Both the median sales price ($401,200) and the average sales price ($465,451) increased 13.5 percent and 15.8 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price increased 11.9 percent to $498,495. This brought the original list price to sales price measure to 97 percent, while homes were on market longer (+44%) and averaged 36 days on market, compared to 25 days in October 2021.

Madison County home sales were unchanged compared to last year with 29 homes sold during the month of October.  Pending contracts were down 8.6 percent year-over-year as 32 homes went under contract compared to 35 this time last year. New listing activity was also down 18.6 percent as sellers brought 35 homes to the market versus 43 homes added to the market in October 2021. Inventory dipped 1.2 percent leaving 82 homes for sale or 3.1 months of supply.  Prices were mixed. The median sales price declined 9.6 percent year-over-year to $375,000 while the average sales price increased 10.8 percent to $448,779. The average list price rose 41 percent compared to last year to $568,897. This brought the original list price to sales price ratio to 91.1 percent while days on market showed homes were on market 35 days in October versus 72 days this time last year.