The 2021 MLS Market Report for the High Country Association of Realtors® saw agents finish out the year with records in sales volume and some comparable numbers to the historical totals we saw in 2020.
As for December of 2021 the High Country MLS recorded 249 homes sold for $116 million. There were 289 homes which sold for $124 million in December of 2020. The median sold price increased by 9 percent this year to $355,200 compared to $325,000 last December.
Professionals in the High Country MLS sold a total of 3,222 residential listings worth $1.43 billion by the year’s end. Home sales volume totaled $1.18 billion the previous year. The High Country MLS records for 2020 reported 3,269 total residential properties sold. The number of High Country homes sold was down a mere 1.4 percent this year from 2020, however the sales value was up 20 percent, a pattern noted across the US according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The agency also stated that the price increase accounted for the largest annual home price increase in the history of the agency’s House Price Index.
A notable statistic recorded this year was the median sold price - the point at which half of all homes sold above or below - was $345,000 for 2021. It was $285,000 the year prior. That’s a 21 percent increase in the residential sales price compared to 2020.
High Country Realtor® and MLS past president, Shy Fecteau explains the year from a professional’s point of view; "We thought it couldn't get any more challenging than 2020, but as we entered an even stronger seller's market in 2021, High Country Realtors® had to work harder than ever to bring their buyers to closing. That is evident by our sales volume and number of home sales, despite the continuing decline in inventory month over month."
September of 2021 saw buyers scoop 305 homes off the market, the most in one month recorded all year. The high mark for home sales last year was recorded at 440 homes sold in September of 2020. At the markets low mark, in February we saw a meager 183 homes sold. The lowest number recorded since April the year prior, which saw only 130 homes sold.
INTEREST RATES: Loan giant Freddie Mac reported the average 30-year fixed rate to be 3.22 percent as of January 10, 2022. We saw rates steady around 3.10 percent for the month of December 2021. Rates for 30-year-FRM’s were at 2.65 percent a year ago.
INVENTORY: As of January 10, there were 289 homes for sale in the four-county area, compared to January 6 last year, there were 496 homes for sale. With that comparison, we see nearly a 42 percent decrease in inventory from the previous year.
LAND. REALTORS® sold 1649 tracts of land for the year of 2021, with total sales volume recorded at $195 million. Last year 1,144 tracts of land worth $110.3 million in 2020.
MLS data shows that for the month of December Realtors® recorded 144 land sales worth a total of $18.79 million. Alleghany county Realtors® sold 12 tracts worth $1.17 million. Ashe county Realtors sold 37 tracts worth $5.37 million. Avery county Realtors® sold 18 tracts worth $2 million. Watauga county Realtors® sold 58 tracts totaling $8.54 million
COMMERCIAL. This year we saw a total of 61 commercial properties sell worth $30 million. Last year’s MLS data recorded only 30 commercial listings that sold for $13.47 million. That is an increase this year of 103% in commercial properties sold. We begin the new year with 80 commercial properties active in the MLS.
To close out the year, there were 3 commercial properties sold in December. Two were in Watauga County for a combined $709,000. There was one in Ashe County for $535,000.
ALLEGHANY COUNTY. Realtors® sold 283 homes in total, worth $77 million for the year. The median sold price was $242,172. There were 249 homes sold worth $41.12 million last year.
In the final month of the year, Alleghany Realtors® sold 20 homes worth $5.4 million.
ASHE COUNTY. Realtors® sold 563 homes worth $184 million at the years close. Last year Realtors® recorded 541 homes sold for $153 million during 2020. The median sold price was $290,000 this year compared to the median of $265,000 the previous year.
In December 2021, 46 homes worth $14.96 million were sold.
AVERY COUNTY. Realtors® sold 691 homes worth a total of $350 million in 2021. Last year there were 712 homes worth $285 million. The median sold price was $315,000, it was recorded at $255,000 for the year of 2020.
There were 42 homes sold for $17 million in December.
WATAUGA COUNTY. REALTORS® sold 1373 total homes in 2021, worth $694 million. Professionals recorded 1,426 homes worth $596 million in 2020. That The median sold price increased from $340,000 in 2020 to $400,000 in 2021.
There were 118 homes worth $67.7 million that sold in December.
Disclaimer: Figures based on information from High Country Multiple Listing Service. Data is for informational purposes only and may not be completely accurate due to MLS reporting processes. This data reflects a specific point in time and cannot be used in perpetuity due to the fluctuating nature of markets.
