Archive for the 'Market News' Category

Chip Craig, Greybeard Realty founder, studies the Black Mountain market regularly.  In a recent Asheville-Citizens Times article, he notes that the return of positive numbers in the local market is not surprising to him.  “It was growing a lot before this downturn,” he said. “We were one of the last areas to feel it, so it makes sense we’d be one of the first areas to improve,” said Craig. 

Black Mountain Views

In addition, Buncumbe County continues to show positive signs of real estate growth.  Another piece in the Citizens Times attributes the growth to new buyers and price shifts.  Be sure to read the particulars of this article  for more insight into the steadily improving market.

From the previously mentioned articles, it appears the numbers indicate that the local real estate market is headed toward more steady growth. As other areas of the country improve, and more people can sell their existing homes in those areas, expect to see even more people coming to Black Mountain to enjoy what the area has to offer.

Greybeard Realty experienced a 14 % increase in home sales volume for 2009.  That figure in itself is impressive, but when it is compared with area sales volume overall it becomes even more dramatic.

Home sales volume declined 17% in Buncombe County in 2009.  In Black Mountain, home sales volume fell 8% for the same period.

Greybeard Realty, Black Mountain, NC

For Greybeard founder Chip Craig, his company’s increase in sales volume directly links with his company’s focus on advanced technology and expertise.  He notes that nationally 87% of home buyers use the internet while searching for new homes.  In the last year, he has noticed a strong increase in web visits to the Greybeard website with 65% of his company’s web traffic coming from outside of North Carolina.

“Our web traffic is up 85% for 2009,” he says.  “In terms of page views, we are up 137% which means visitors are exploring more of our site.  We have done quite a bit of search engine optimization to ensure that our site appears at the top of Google and Bing (two heavily used search sites).”

Greybeard utilizes the internet to market itself through paid website banners and has increased this exposure in the last year while other companies have had to reduce advertising expenditures. (more…)

Last month I cited my father’s advice in saying “if you can’t say something nice then don’t say anything.”  This month, I would like to point to the wisdom of Albert Einstein when I say, when considering the annual numbers for homes sales for Black Mountain, just remember, “It’s all relative.”

A quick glance down the column of percent change for the annual home sale statistics for Black Mountain homes in 2009 (provided by MLS) would seem to indicate a slow market.  The largest positive percent change is in (more…)

The ground hog predicts more winter, but Spring is showing some promise in the Asheville Real Estate Market (photo RomanticAsheville.com)

Punxsutawny Phil is not the only one making predictions and prognostications this time of year. Industry experts  have noted the trends within the Asheville real estate market of the last few months, and for these observers, the future appears to be one of improvement.

A recent front page article in the Asheville Citizens-Times cites a 50% increase in monthly home sales in Buncombe County for December, marking the fourth straight month of sales increases over the previous year.  The dramatic increase is tempered by the knowledge that the fall and early winter of 2008 were economically challenging times for the area.  The four month trend upward, however, indicates that the market appears to be headed in a better direction.

“All my graphs are starting to point in the right direction,” said Chip Craig, owner of GreyBeard Realty in Black Mountain. From Asheville Citzen Times

For the specific statistics and to read the whole article which includes more comments from Greybeard Realty founder, Chip Craig.

From an early age, my father taught me that if you can’t say something nice then don’t say anything.  This is my first article in a while.  In the last 12 months there hasn’t been much nice to say about the Black Mountain real estate market.  Statistics from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) indicate that the real estate market in our area may be ready to move forward. (more…)

While Black Mountain may have been one of the last markets hit by the economic downturn, we believe it is one of the first markets to begin recovering.  While sales in Black Mountain and Buncombe County are down from the previous year by an average of 30%, statistics from the Western North Carolina Regional MLS show that we have may have reached the bottom and are beginning to rebound.

For the first time since March 2008, home sales (# of units) in Black Mountain have exceeded the sales from the same month in the previous year, and currently, 22 homes are under contract. And while the average cost of homes significantly dropped from last year, we are finally seeing an upswing — the median price of homes in Black Mountain has increased by 2% year-to-date.

The good news continues for August.  In August 2008, there were 3 homes sold in Black Mountain.  As of the date of this posting (August 29, 2009), there have been 7 closed sales this month.

Greybeard Realty has become the leader in high-end home sales in Black Mountain and Montreat.  Having sold 50% of all homes in the $400,000 and above market since August 2008, Greybeard’s success testifies to our experience, knowledge, and, most importantly, to the trust of buyers and sellers alike.

“We have increased marketing expenditures by 30% in a down economy, resulting in our website has seeing nearly double the traffic from the previous year, and our vacation rental reservations have increased dramatically over the last several months,” noted Chip Craig, owner of Greybeard Realty.

According to sales figures from the Asheville Board of Realtors, Greybeard is ranked #1 for total market share in Black Mountain and #11 for the entire Board.  Says Craig, “We are thrilled to be competing so well with larger firms.  We have 9 full-time agents, while the firms ranked ahead of us in terms of market share have dozens, if not hundreds.”

Just a few of the Luxury Homes sold by Greybeard Realty

Montreat Real Estate Sales
While the national economy has impacted Montreat real estate sales, our mountain cove has been protected from most of the economic storm. Montreat Property continues to sell.

Click here for a complete list of closed home sales in the last 12 months.  Click here for the closed lot sales in the last 12 months.

For currently listed properties in Montreat, click for Montreat homes for sale and Montreat lots for sale. (more…)

“Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes.” Henry J. Kaiser (1882 – 1967)

At first sight it is hard to see the opportunity in a difficult time, but more often than not we may find that it is the very time to reevaluate and make plans for the future. From the outset of the economic downturn, Greybeard Realty has intentionally used our time to do just that.

We are honing our website so that when we market your properties or you search for properties to buy, we are in the lead with user-friendly links for the seller and buyer.

One of our best characteristics is the personal service we offer buyers and sellers. We know that it is of utmost importance right now to give careful attention to our listings and to be creative in looking for the best options for our buyers. One way we do this is to communicate regularly with each other about properties we know about. And we are genuinely excited about the area we “sell.”

One of our buyers recently said, “Once again, you were so very helpful and so proud of your area it made us really not want to rule this place out.” We are seeing the results in the increase in market share that Greybeard Realty is experiencing.

In the first quarter of 2009, Greybeard Realty has sold 37% of the Black Mountain real estate market – up from 19% market share in 2008. 19% is the next largest of any other local firm.

If you include Montreat sales, Greybeard Realty accounts for 49% of the Black Mountain and Montreat real estate sales for the first quarter of 2009.

We hope you will take advantage of our “opportunity” in troubled times and make it yours as well. And give us your feedback…we want to hear from you!

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law on Feb. 17, 2009, provides many buyers with a tax credit of up to $8,000 if they purchase a home between January 1 and November 31, 2009.  Most news outlets have referred to this credit as available only to first-time homebuyers, but that is not entirely accurate.

The Act does specify that this incentive is for first-time buyers, but it is important to understand how the law defines first-time buyers.  In this case, a first-time homebuyer is someone who had no interest in a principal residence in the prior 3 years.  Clearly, this opens up the tax credit to more than just true first-timers. (more…)