George Real Estate Group Radio Broadcast

Real Estate Reality: Market Trends & Growth in the Carolinas

• George Real Estate Group

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The resilience of Western North Carolina's real estate market takes center stage as we explore remarkable growth patterns despite economic uncertainties. Henderson County's housing market shows surprising strength with a 7% increase in homes sold year-to-date compared to 2024, maintaining a healthy 3.5-month inventory supply that continues to favor sellers.

Drawing on two decades of real estate experience, we examine how dramatically our market has transformed since 2011, when a two-year supply of inventory made selling challenging, to today's balanced but still seller-friendly environment. The average Henderson County home price stands at $546,000, while median prices have more than doubled over the past decade, climbing from $215,000 in 2015 to $495,000 in early 2025.

Recent migration patterns play a significant role in our market's resilience, with North Carolina ranking as the fifth most popular destination for relocations according to United Van Lines. As people leave states like California, New York, and Illinois seeking better quality of life, our communities continue to attract new residents drawn to our mountains, outdoor recreation, and welcoming atmosphere.

For those concerned about recession impacts on housing, historical data offers reassurance. Unlike the 2008 housing crisis (an anomaly in economic history), most recessions don't trigger significant home price drops. In fact, prices rose during four of the last six recessions, while mortgage rates typically declined. This pattern suggests that even during economic uncertainty, housing often remains a stable investment—particularly in desirable locations like Western North Carolina.

Whether you're contemplating selling your current home, searching for a new property, exploring investment opportunities, or considering a real estate career, we're here to provide data-driven guidance tailored to your unique situation. Call us at 828-393-0134 or visit realestatebygregcom to discover how we can help navigate your real estate journey with experienced, thoughtful support.

Speaker 1:

Hello friends, thank you so much for being here. This is the George Real Estate Group podcast, which is a production of our live weekly radio shows hosted on multiple radio stations here in Hendersonville, north Carolina. The George Real Estate Group serves Western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina and it is a privilege to share positive news about our local real estate market and community. Thanks so much for subscribing and, of course, if you have any real estate questions or if we can help you in any way, be sure to reach out. Visit us at georgerealestategroupradiocom for more information. Good morning and welcome to the George Real Estate Group live radio broadcast here on WHKP every Thursday morning, sharing with you about positive news about your local real estate market and community. We're so grateful to be here with you. This is our first show of April. Time's flying by. I will say I'm so thankful for the rain. I know I heard it said last week, six months ago, we were praying for relief from the rain, and now we were praying for relief from the rain, and now we were praying for rain for relief. Uh, what a unique time we're in and just so grateful for the rain and, again, the continued efforts of, uh, the local, uh, our local uh, you know community in our whether it's our firefighters, our, our law enforcement, our local government, the everything that was just all the efforts done to walk through that challenge that our community faced Again just so recently after the hurricane, and then to be facing the fires that we had and, again, so grateful for the rain. We're so thankful to be here with you. This is. We're here every Thursday morning. We're here. We've been actually doing this program since 2011.

Speaker 1:

The market, real estate market it's so fascinating. When I started the radio show in 2011, I'd had my real estate license since 05, so only six years into the business. Now I have had my broker's license for 20 years and the market then in 2011 was very challenging. In some cases we had a two-year supply of inventory only some 70 homes a month selling. And here we are now. You know, here we are in 2025. We're averaging some 124 homes a month selling. We have like a three-and-a-half-month supply, which is great, considering it's all relative right the real estate market, the interest rates, the economy, the housing market and we are. If you look nationwide, we're down to some 4 million homes annually.

Speaker 1:

But the growth that the Carolinas has experienced I saw recently by United moving vans that North Carolina was in their top 10 list of incoming moving in. North Carolina was ranked number five of top inbound states from the company United Moving Vans. United Vans sorry, united Van Lines the top North Carolina was in the top inbound states of 2024. You can imagine you might not be surprised at the top five moving out states. Outbound states for United van lines was New Jersey, illinois, new York, california and Massachusetts. Their top five inbound states was West Virginia, delaware, south Carolina, district of Columbia and then North Carolina. Isn't that interesting for 2024? But the growth that we've experienced for all the reasons quality of life, the beautiful climate, the beautiful mountains we live in the outdoors, the wonderful, generous people that live here. And, by the way, we highlight that every Friday morning we have our Hometown Heroes series here on WHKP. It's a privilege and honor to sponsor the Hometown Heroes series, speaking of which, tune in tomorrow morning at 845.

Speaker 1:

Rosie and Matt Rogers. They were one of the families that lost their home in the wildfires. They just recently had moved back in after the bridge had been put back, um, but then, uh, not long after I don't know if it's week or two weeks after they they got access to their, their neighborhood because of the bridge being out. Uh, they then lost their home it was called cabin of hope in the wildfires. Um, them, along with others we've known, we know that lost their homes Again, it's just a. It's a lot to comprehend and process, but the generosity and how people face challenges and you know difficulties and I know Matt's not wanting to talk about themselves and we will talk about the incredible efforts of the community and the firefighters and the first responders and those serving the community, that that that works so hard to fight the fires and to save our, our, our community and homes. Again, so thankful for the rain.

Speaker 1:

But the the interesting thing is, again, when you look at 2025, versus, you know, 2011,. When I started the real the radio show, again, the, the, we and we focused on positive news because there was this I mean, there's this perception of the sky's falling and you might even feel that now, and I've heard of so many real estate offices that are closing their doors, um and versus, again, there's there's. We're so grateful We've been actually growing and helping more people in this current environment, um, and and there's opportunity to serve the community through real estate. We know real estate happens, regardless of interest rates or if there's a pandemic or if there's a hurricane. Real estate is essential to our lives having a place to live and to call home and whether it's a positive reason why you're buying or selling or whether it's a challenging reason I mean there's so many reasons why you might be buying or selling, not to mention us helping our clients navigate through their real estate investments, and whether they have a commercial investment or they have a real estate portfolio with rentals, I mean, and we have 1031 exchange opportunities and strategies and places to park money and places to avoid capital gains. I mean there's so many things that are involved with that, that happen around real estate and and we're so grateful to help our clients um navigate through that. So if you're thinking of buying, selling or investing, or uh considering, uh liquidating your real estate portfolio or adding to it, or uh want to talk about commercial real estate or raw land, whatever it might be, I mean we are. We have the capacity and the experience and the knowledge and systems to help you navigate through that. So give us a call. 828-393-0134, 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestatebygregcom. Also, follow us on social media. We're on Instagram and Facebook, you know. We're just grateful. We also podcast all of our radio shows so you can find that on your favorite podcast platform.

Speaker 1:

We have a new listing going on the market today and actually there's going to be an open house on Friday, which is exciting. An open house on Friday at 29 Wintory Drive. In 29 Wintory Drive in Hendersonville, in the very desirable Blue Ridge Villas neighborhood, there's going to be an open house tomorrow from 11 to 1. This home's hitting the market today and then there'll be an open house tomorrow from 11 to 1, hosted by Wendy Morris and grateful for our agents, grateful for our clients, and so keep an eye out for that. We have also other new inventory and homes hitting the market. If you want to check it out, you can go to our website realestatebygregcom. We have great clients. We have great inventory. We're just thankful and we love we're so passionate and enthusiastic about helping our clients and helping our agents too.

Speaker 1:

If you've thought about a career in real estate or currently have a license and not, you know, not sure what you're doing in the industry, but looking for some direction and some guidance and some coaching, we'd be grateful to have that conversation too. The interesting thing is that there's a lot of conversations about recession and you know, and it's all over the news the odds of the recession are rising and people wonder what's a recession? What could it do to the housing market if we in fact do go into a recession? But history can certainly give us some stories and can give us some information. Recession doesn't mean home prices will fall, and that always goes to supply and demand, and I will talk about our local supply and demand. But you know, if you know, people think back to 2008 and then I was mentioning earlier 2011, when you know the bottom of the real estate market, you know in that cycle. But you know people think if a recession hits, home prices will fall like they did in 2008. But that was actually the exception, not the rule, and you can see this on our more recent blog post. You can go to our radio website, georgerrealestategroupradiocom, and see our blog post there. But it was actually the only time we saw such a steep drop in prices and it hasn't happened since. There's data from CoreLogic In four of the last six recessions, home prices actually went up and there's a graph on the blog post.

Speaker 1:

You can see that. So if you're thinking about buying or selling, don't assume a recession will lead to a crash in home prices. The data doesn't support that and instead, usually home prices follow whatever trajectory they're already on and right now, nationally, home prices are still rising at a more normal pace. Now, mortgage rates typically decline during recessions, while home prices tend to stay on their current path. Mortgage rates usually drop during economic slowdowns and again, there's more data from that. You know there's been the last six recessions. Mortgage rates actually fell, so a recession means mortgage rates could decline based on the data. You know do not expect them to go back to the 3%, but you know they could go down, which will help with affordability. You know we don't know about if there's going to be a recession or not. It's, you know. No one knows the future. Certainly the odds have gone up, but that doesn't mean you have to wonder about the impact on the housing market and we can look back on history and I will say this it's also interesting Again. I had my broker's license for 20 years.

Speaker 1:

The real estate market continues and it will continue to move Again, whether there's a you could call it a seller's market or a buyer's market, and that's determined by inventory and demand. Currently, we're still in a seller's market. Also, regardless of interest rates. We know that life goes on. Therefore real estate goes on. I mean one in three homes sold single family homes sold in Henderson County are purchased with cash and so we continue to see cash moving through the market. Here's some great news. If we just look at the first three months of the year this year versus last year, we've had a 7% increase in the number of homes sold year to date this year versus year to date last year. So that's really positive news and significant Again, 7% increase. When you look at single family homes sold in Henderson County, we've had a 7% increase in the number of homes sold. So again, the market's strong here. It's healthy.

Speaker 1:

If you look at supply and demand. If you look in the last 12 months, we've had some 1,500 single-family homes sold. There's only 440 active homes on the market. Now the average single-family home price if you look at the last rolling 12 months, that number's gone down a little bit. I mean at one point we were at 550 or 551, now at 546. So that number's, you know it's gone down a little bit. It's still hovering around that 550 mark but 546 is the average single family home price over the last 12 months in Henderson County. But again, low inventory only 440 active single family homes on the market, you know. And then with some 1,503 single-family homes sold, that's 125. So the 125 divided by the 440, that's how we determine inventory supply. Month's supply we have a three and a half months of inventory If there was no more homes that hit the market and we continued at the rate of 125 homes a month selling. Again, that's a. You know this is the average and obviously there's different price points that have different demand and inventory. But the overall market in Henderson County is still a seller's market, you know. So what does that mean for you?

Speaker 1:

Again, your unique home, your unique situation, your uh, your choices, your life circumstances. You know we take a two-step approach at the George Real Estate Group. If you're curious what your home is worth, if you're curious, do you sell before you buy? Do you buy before you sell? And we'd certainly love to interview for the job. There's no pressure, there's no cost, there's no obligation for confidential consultation. Just if you're curious about the economy, if you're curious about the housing market, if you're curious about your specific home, you know what would you do to get your home ready to go on the market. You know, are there things you would do to to prepare and to stage it and to to make sure.

Speaker 1:

Now everybody has to decide between time and money and and, you know, between you know if you the the time on the market has increased a little bit, but it's still. It's still relatively short compared. It gets it's a little bit things. Days on market have been going up, uh, over the last few years, but compared to where we were, um, you know, you know days on market, uh, if you look over the last and again, single family homes, if you look at the last, you know few. If you look at the last few years, I mean we've seen a slight increase. Average cumulative days on market. We're right now at 64 days. Last year was at 50 days and 2023 was at 38 days and 2021, 2022 was at 28 days. We still see homes are moving quickly when you look at 64 days. So two months on average right now cumulative days on market, that's not too bad.

Speaker 1:

I remember. I remember years ago I mean at some point we were over a hundred days on market. Yeah, actually back in 2015,. 10 years ago, our average days on market was 137 days on market. That was normal. And again, the data can tell us a story of what's going on. And so you know the story of inventory, the story of you know how much is actually available. You know we have seen a slight increase in the inventory. We, you know we also have seen strong price appreciation, the median closed price, I mean, if you look at the last 10 years if you look at the last 10 years of single-family homes in Henderson County, this is just amazing to consider.

Speaker 1:

The median closed price in Henderson County in 2015 was at $215,000. And then it went up as high as in 2024, that median home price jumped up as high as $470,000. And then so far this year and again we're only three months in our median home price is at $495,000. And that's the median home price if you look over the last 10 years, but I mean over double the median home price. Now, the average price, the median's different than the average price. If you look at just so far this year, our average price is at 518. I mentioned. If you look at the 12 month average, we're at 546. So again, the numbers tell a story and again we look, look at it in in context to your specific home, your specific situation. Uh, you know the location, the condition, the age, the, the improvements you've made, and we work with all types and all price points. I mean we work with fixer uppers to the, to the luxury homes we work with, you know, multimillion dollar properties and clients, and so, if you're whatever your situation is, again, I have 20 years of experience. Our team has over a hundred years of combined experience and so we bring a lot of experience and systems and proven and predictable processes and guidance for your situation. So if you're curious and you want to have a conversation, we'd love to sit down, we'd love to interview for the job. You can call us directly at 828-393-0134, 828-393-0134. You can stop by our office there in Flat Rock at 2720 Greenville Highway. We're right next to our friends at the Flat Rock Bakery, our friends at Hubba Hubba Barbecue, our friends at Hubba Lou and Campfire Grill and the Wrinkled Egg. We're on Rainbow Row there in Flat Rock but we'd love for you to stop in and say hello and connect with us. You can follow us on our social media and we post about our new listings, we post about our open houses, we post about the successes we've had and our different agents and we'd love to connect with you. Follow us on Instagram or Facebook. We also podcast all of our radio shows. We recently passed over 10,000 downloads of our radio show on the podcast and we've just been doing the podcast a couple of years. But follow us on your favorite podcast platform and we do a number of different radio programs, including the Hometown Heroes series tomorrow morning, every Friday morning at 845.

Speaker 1:

You know, in the last seven days again we look at the last 12 months, we look at year to date but just in the last seven days there's been 49 new listings. There's been this is interesting 48 price reductions. Prices are being reduced. You cannot underprice your home in the market. In any market, you can't overprice your home. Now no one's taken me up on this extreme example, but you could price your home at a dollar and if it's really worth $500,000, the market will bid it up. When you tell the whole world that it's for sale, it will bid it up. But there has been 48 price reductions. Sale it will bid it up. But there has been 48 price reductions 49 new listings, 48 price reductions. There's been 35 homes go under contract. So you know it's almost. As you know, there's been more inventory coming on the market than being taken off the market and then 39 homes closed in the last seven days. So 35 homes went under contract just in a seven day period and then 39 homes closed. And we watch the market, we watch what's going on Now. We see the inventory, we watch what's closing, we got our finger on the pulse of what's going on and again you can reach out to us 828-393-0134,. 828-393-0134. You know.

Speaker 1:

The other thing is you know and let's talk about pricing your home. I mean the number one thing that sellers need to know about. They're asking prices. You know, when you put your house in the market and again, another blog post on our website when you put your house on the market, you want to sell and you want to sell it quickly and for the best price. That's generally the goal Sell it as quick as possible for the best price possible.

Speaker 1:

You know, too many sellers are shooting too high right now. Like I said, 39 price reductions here locally in the last seven days and a lot of sellers don't realize the market has shifted as inventory has grown. You know the side effect is price cuts are on the rise, but they really don't have to be. So you know, according to the from recent data from realtorcom, in February, price cuts were the highest they've been in any other February since 2019. And if you consider that 2019 was the last true normal year for the housing market, that's a big deal. So we're getting back to what's typical for the housing market.

Speaker 1:

This isn't the same frenzied seller market we saw a few years ago and you may not get the same price your neighbor did at the height of the pandemic, and that means you may need to reset your expectations. But the reality is, if you shoot too high and have to lower your price after the fact, you might end up actually with less than if you'd have priced it right from the start. So how do you avoid that? I mean, you get to decide what you do, but you can listen and lean on your agent. You know how an agent can help you nail the price right. The great agent just doesn't pull numbers out of the air. They use real data and market trends.

Speaker 1:

Our agents at the Georgia Real Estate Group are watching the market. We're studying the market. The data tells a story. The price in the home not just home, it could be your land, it could be a condo, it could be residential. But again, pricing the home is critical. So pricing it at a realistic price that's going to draw in serious buyers. So looking at recent sales, looking at local trends, looking at again what strategy you have and then, of course, the the condition of the home.

Speaker 1:

We had a recent situation where we tried a price that was higher than what the data showed and we tried it out. We're getting showings but we weren't getting offers. And then, over time, you know, working closely with a seller, you know the seller's ultimately the one in control, deciding where you want to price it. We tried higher than what the data suggested and the market didn't respond to it. So we, over time, dropped the price strategically and then yes, this is so interesting to me you know you're on the market for four or five months and you're getting showings. For four or five months and you're getting showings. And then, when we drop the price over time, we get to the you know, quote fighting weight of the home.

Speaker 1:

We get multiple offers on the property and you might say to yourself, well, why didn't you get multiple offers on the property? You know, at the beginning, well, the price wasn't a competitive price. And so you know buyers might not even look at it if you price it too high. And even if they see a home that seems overpriced, they might not even go look at it. Versus I know we hear it all the time from sellers well, just make me an offer. Well, sellers, I appreciate that.

Speaker 1:

However, the price that homes are selling for relative to their asking price is staying pretty close. I mean, when you look at the last and I'm going to pull the data up. When you look at the price this closed price compared to the sold price, it does impact and we can see that homes over know over the years, homes have been selling closer to the original price than before. But you know, over the last, you know 10 years. When you look at the data, you know, back in 2022, homes compared to the original price the average with things were selling at 99.7%. In 2023, homes were selling at 97.9%. In 2024, this is closed price. Compared to the original price, they were selling at 96.5%. And then this year so far, we're at 95.8% of the original asking price compared to the of the original asking price compared to the sold price.

Speaker 1:

But if you look at the closed price compared to the current list price, things are selling at 97. So far this year, 97.6%. So even when home prices have been dropping, sellers are staying fairly close to the price From the original price. This year so far, we're at 95%. And then if you look at the closed price to the current sales price, we're selling at almost 98%. So this is where buyers think they can come in. We're going to offer $100,000 less. Sellers just don't have to do that because of the current market. We're in, yes, are there price reductions happening? Yes, but we're still in a seller's market. We still have low inventory. There's still less than 450 homes on the market, single family homes and we continue to see 125 single family homes a month selling.

Speaker 1:

I know I get into the weeds with the numbers, but we love studying the numbers. The numbers tell a story. Ultimately, though, your unique situation, your unique home, your unique condition and location there's so many factors that go into play and that's why we take it from a very specific approach to you and to your home. And again, do you want to sell before you buy? Do you want to buy before you sell? Are you moving into a retirement community? Are you working with an estate that you're having to sell, a family member's home? Is it a divorce? I mean, life happens.

Speaker 1:

Therefore, real estate happens, and we don't take it lightly, and it's an honor and privilege to walk alongside with our clients navigating through life. And then we bring along the expertise and the knowledge and the systems and the information about the housing market, and we can have really hard, challenging conversations, but it's the truth combined with the care, it's care and candor combined that ultimately provide the information for our clients and walk alongside our clients. And we're here to advocate and we're here to facilitate. And so if you're just curious about what does that look like to your specific situation? What does it look like for your home, what does it look like for your family? And we'd love to have the conversation and there's zero pressure or obligation. But we meet with people every single day navigating through what's the right thing for me to do in regards to real estate, whether it's your investments and your portfolio, or maybe it's your personal home, I mean and then the tax implications, and we can shed a lot of light on your situation. And, by the way, I want to just say publicly just so grateful the amount of phone calls that come into our office from this radio program, and we're just grateful we don't take it lightly for our listeners that have recommended us, our listeners that have called into us and have hired us and call in every single week, that we're just so grateful for that. And so thank you so much for your support at the George Rilsay Group. We love and love and love supporting our community. We love, we're passionate about helping our clients and our agents. We have an incredible team. We have an incredible group with our staff and our leadership team and our agents. We have an incredible team. We have an incredible group with our staff and our leadership team and our agents, and we're so thankful for the opportunity to work in this community and, by the way, we work in all of Western North Carolina. We also work in upstate South Carolina and, again, we'd be grateful to have the conversation.

Speaker 1:

If you know somebody getting their real estate license, whatever your perception is, you might say, wow, why people, people are getting their real estate license all the time. Um, but there's also a mass exodus of people getting into the industry, which is fine too. It's it's not for the light of art or you know, but it is so rewarding and it's so incredible to help our clients in regards to real estate. And it's about the relationships, it's about the advocating and the facilitating. So, you know, if you're thinking about getting your real estate license, let's have a conversation. Maybe you just got your real estate license, let's have a conversation.

Speaker 1:

We're growing, we're hiring, we're helping people launch their careers. I mean, there's some interesting statistics Only one in 10 new licensees today will be in business in the next five years. I mean it's only second to insurance licenses, you know, as to the people, the attrition and people getting out of the business, but there's, if you're willing to show up, if you're willing to work hard and learn, you know there's so much opportunity and it's a very rewarding career to help your clients navigate through real estate and the buying and selling. And there's so much opportunity, especially in these challenging markets that we're in. But guess what? Every single day there's homes being sold and listed and homes going under contract and we're helping our clients every single day. The market's the market, the interest rates are the interest rates. But we know real estate happens around life and it's a great time if you want to have a conversation about the real estate career. Also, we've been helping clients with 1031 exchanges and if you don't know what that means, you can call us.

Speaker 1:

It's in regards to a tax strategy in regards to your real estate investments and I'm not talking about residential, because if you've lived in your home two out of a five-year period and it can be any two years of that five-year period you as an individual, you're not paying the first $250,000 of profit, You're not paying taxes on it. As a married couple, it's $500,000. But the tax rules are different for your investments and what your basis is, and whether it's land or whether it's residential. And again, we have strategies, we have solutions. We can help you. Maybe you're listening to the radio program, maybe you own a farm and maybe you own land and you're thinking about hey, I know it's worth a lot more than what I paid for, but I don't want to pay these taxes. Worth a lot more than what I paid for it, but I don't want to pay these taxes. And, by the way, there's ways to move money from real estate into other real estate investments that are paying a return. I mean, there's so many opportunities out there and there's ways to consider giving your real estate to nonprofits. There's ways to think about your family legacy and there's strategies that you can talk about with regards to real estate.

Speaker 1:

Well, time flies when you're having fun. Just so thankful to be here with you every Thursday morning. Again, if we can help you in any way, give us a call 828-393-0134. This is a fun weekend. We got the final, we got basketball happening, the final four tomorrow with the women's final four, and then the men's final four this weekend, and again, it's always a fun time of year. I know basketball is something I enjoy watching and enjoy. But again, hope you have a wonderful day. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. We're so grateful for the rain. I understand it's going to get warm tomorrow. But again, tune in tomorrow morning at 845. Also, be sure to subscribe to our podcast. You can find it on your favorite podcast platform. Have a great day, have a great week and we'll see you tomorrow morning.

Speaker 1:

Life has a way of throwing us into deep waters when we least expect it. Dr Robin Hainley Defoe knows this firsthand. One winter day her car skidded on ice and plunged into a freezing river, trapped in sinking darkness. She had seconds to act. But instead of panicking, she reminded herself I can do hard things. She stayed calm, found a way out and survived. At the George Real Estate Group, we know that buying or selling a home can feel like that moment Overwhelming, uncertain, maybe even a little scary. But here's the thing you can do hard things and you don't have to do them alone. With decades of experience, we're here to guide you every step of the way, turning challenges into opportunities. So if you're thinking about making a move, let's do it together. Call the George Real Estate Group today because, when it comes to your future, you're stronger than you think.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for listening to the George Real Estate Group podcast. Tune in next time for more industry news updates and real estate tips. You can reach Greg, the George Real Estate Group, at 828-393-0134 or at realestatebygregcom.