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.
Some modular companies [...]
Laurel Ridge has a Black Mountain fire substation that acts as first responders for the North Fork Valley area. This area includes the Asheville Water Shed, Grove Stone Quarry, the residents who live in the area, as well as the north side of Montreat. Laurel Ridge has nine volunteers that respond to the first alert and 911 calls, which means that in case of an emergency, a Laurel Ridge neighbor will be showing up at your home first. Our community also has it's own water supply, with four 40,000 gallon water towers and many hydrants through the nine miles of roads.
Above the fire station we have a new community room called "The Lodge." This is where we have the new First Friday community potlucks, the annual "Gathering" in October, and holiday parties. This facility can also be rented out by Laurel Ridge residents for family functions.
Under the leadership of our new POA President, Lyons Williams, the residents have instituted an emergency response team that is putting together plans for natural emergencies and interruption of food supply and utilities. This is just one of the twelve committees of volunteers who work to make Laurel Ridge such a well-running community.
-Sharon Came (Greybeard Realty agent and Laurel Ridge resident)
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 [...]
The New York Times did a nice article on Black Mountain and the area in the summer of 2007. We thought it might be of interest to share with you again. We have had several clients that identified the article as reason for their visit to our area.
Congratulations are in order for Charlies Sparks and Black Mountain Bungalow Company! Charlie is a local builder and a Greybeard Realty client. The "Chips Bungalow," located in Black Mountain's Village of Cheshire, has been named "Home of the Month" by The News and Observer. Click here for the article.
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 [...]
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.
The total volume of house sales in terms of dollars in the Black Mountain area rose 35% year to date through August 2007. Total number of houses sold is up 22% for the same period with an average price increase of 11%. Historically, the average price has increased 15% over the past few years so appreciation in our market has slowed a bit but is still very healthy, especially relative to many places in the nation.
One area that does show some potential weakness in the market is the inventory of homes for sale. Last year, there were approximately 65 to 70 homes on the market. At present, there are 126 on the market. It is interesting that the number of units sold in 2007 is up 22% and yet total inventory on market is almost double. The increase in inventory is therefore a result of more people listing their homes for sale rather than a slow down in purchases.
Most of the increase in inventory is the result of the upper end of the market. Currently there are 54 homes on the market priced over $450,000 in Black Mountain and only 12 homes in this price range have sold this year through August 31 (12 sales over $450,000 is well above 2006 when only 5 sold through August). The increase of upper end inventory may be the result of the national housing slowdown. My feeling is that most of the people purchasing houses in this price range are moving into Black Mountain from elsewhere, and it may be that the depressed markets in the other areas of the nation may be preventing them from selling their existing homes to make this move.
As always when I use numbers to support my argument, I would like to point out that there are limitations to my interpretations. First of all, you really need to look at trends and not particular months to see how things are progressing. And you also need to remember that there is a delay in the numbers. This means that August sales are more of an indication of choices buyers made in June when they probably entered into the offer to purchase contract. With those caveats in place, however, I feel as if I can say that Black Mountain's market continues to have solid, steady growth despite the decline being felt nationally.
