Archive for the 'Market News' Category

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…)

With buyers focusing more and more on energy-efficient home designs, modular home construction has become increasingly popular in the Black Mountain and Asheville area.

Modular constructions provides other advantages, including a more environmentally-friendly building process that helps minimizes construction waste. (more…)

I’ve been concerned with the best way to convey the current real estate market in Black Mountain. A preliminary look at the numbers comparing sales volume and units sold in 2008 to 2007 shows a very steep decline in both categories. Sales volume and units sold were down 38% and 41% respectively. At the same time, average and median prices were for the most part flat. At first glance it would be difficult to find any good news in those numbers and what they indicate for the Black Mountain market.   (more…)

For the first time, looking at the latest real estate numbers provided by Multiple Listing Service (MLS) it is possible to see the national downturn in the market creeping into our area. 

In Buncombe County, for example, the number of homes sold has decreased 27% year to date from January to June 2008 (the most recent numbers available) compared with January to June 2007.  Similarly, in Black Mountain, the number of homes sold has decreased 28% over the same period versus last year.  (more…)

Any time I start tracking land sales, I get sidetracked by all the variables in each sale.  For example, a remote, steep 20 acre tract of land in the outreaches of Black Mountain can sell for much less than a ¼ acre tract within the Black Mountain city limits.  The mix of size and location of property sales makes it very difficult to compare land sales from year to year and get a very meaningful trend.

As usual, I have used data from Asheville area multiple listing services (MLS).  The data doesn’t include for sale by owners or some new developments. (more…)

I thought it would be interesting to study this year’s ending numbers as I did last year’s, if only to confirm my feeling that the Black Mountain housing market continues to do well, bucking the national downward trend.  What I found in my analysis was surprising from two standpoints. (more…)

As I indicated in my last article, my intent was to write a piece on vacation rental property in our area this time.  Folks have been stopping me on the street, however, to ask me about the impact of the national housing market on Black Mountain, so I have decided to postpone my planned article until next month and take a look at the numbers here to assess how our housing market is holding up.

I assume that everyone has been reading the national headlines.  Just this week, The New York Times has written “Pending Home Sales Sink in July” and “Stocks Fall in Home Sales Report”.  Other newspapers echo that news with “Housing Market Worst Since Depression”, “Five Months of Declining Value in Housing Market”, and “Nine Month Inventory of Homes on Market.”

So what is happening in Black Mountain?  As usual when asked that question I turn to the numbers for my answer.  Using our regional Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system, I have to say I am encouraged by what I see. (more…)