JANUARY 2022 MLS REPORT: Realtors® in the High Country are opening the year with properties “selling as fast as they come on the market”, according to local Realtor® Leslie Eason, and reports generated from the Multiple Listing Service. Inventory levels are lower than this time last year, but median selling prices are hanging steady, climbing to record highs for our area.
INVENTORY: The High Country MLS recorded 289 residential properties available for showing on January 10th, 2022. This time last year inventory was nearly double the current numbers, with reports showing there were 503 properties on the market then. This indicates that the High Country residential inventory has declined forty-two percent from January of 2021. This decline in inventory is noted across much of the nation as the realtor.com January 2022 Monthly Housing Report indicates a “national average of 28.4% drop in inventory over last year”.
RESIDENTIAL: The High Country Multiple Listing Service recorded 187 residential properties sold in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, and Watauga Counties in January. This is a twenty-two percent decrease compared to the 241 homes that were recorded this time last year. Residential sales totaled $92,199,000 this January, which is a four percent reduction compared to $96,173,701 in sales last January. The median price of homes sold was recorded at $359,000 which is an increase of eight percent when compared to the $330,800 median sold price recorded last January.
ALLEGHANY COUNTY: Alleghany County Realtors® sold 14 homes for just over $4 million. The median sold price of those properties was $215,000. Property sales recorded this year reduced forty-four percent from the 25 homes sold last January which totaled $7 million. The median sold price also decreased from the $272,500 recorded last January.
ASHE COUNTY: Ashe County Realtors® sold 42 residential properties totaling over $14 million in January 2022. The median sold price was $269,750, again a decrease from last January. Last year the total value was recorded at $16.6 million, and the median price was recorded at $325,000. Recorded homes sales declined slightly compared to last January, which saw 49 homes sold.
AVERY COUNTY: Avery County Realtors® sold 35 homes which totaled over $14.4 million. The median sales price for those properties was $273,000. Last January, Avery County Realtors® recorded more sales, 42 homes, which sold for a total of over $19 million, and a higher median sold price of $315,000.
WATAUGA COUNTY: Watauga County Realtors® recorded 75 residential properties selling for over $50.6 million. The median sold price was $487,000 - a thirty percent increase from the median of $372,000 recorded last January. Last January saw 95 homes sell for a little over $42.8 million, which surpasses this year’s numbers by approximately twenty percent.
LAND: High Country Realtors® sold 94 land listings in January 2022, which totaled over $14.4 million, an increase of forty-seven percent from the meager $7.5 million recorded last January. ALLEGHANY COUNTY: Realtors® sold 7 land listings for $392,000. ASHE COUNTY Realtors® sold 27 properties totaling over $2.8 million. AVERY COUNTY: Realtors® sold 19 land listings which totaled over $3.45 million. WATAUGA COUNTY: Realtors® recorded 41 properties selling for over $6.1 million.
COMMERCIAL: The High Country Multiple Listing Service recorded 4 commercial properties sold in January 2022, totaling over $2.1 million. ALLEGHANY COUNTY: Realtors® sold 1 property for $199,000. ASHE COUNTY: Realtors® sold 1 commercial property totaling $775,000. AVERY COUNTY: Realtors® sold 1 property which totaled $89,000. WATAUGA COUNTY: Realtors® sold 1 commercial property totaling $2.1 million.
INTEREST RATES: Mortgage rates have jumped 39% from a year ago, when we were seeing historically low rates. Current rates are reflecting numbers closer to what was seen “pre-pandemic” in March of 2020 and earlier. The mortgage giant, Freddie Mac, currently reports 30-year Fixed-Rate mortgages have increased to 3.69 percent as of February 8, 2022.
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.
