George Real Estate Group Radio Broadcast

Real Estate Wealth: Hidden Equity in Your Home

• George Real Estate Group

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Ever wonder why national real estate headlines don't match what you're seeing locally? This eye-opening episode dives deep into Western North Carolina's resilient housing market, revealing how Henderson County defied national trends with a 7% increase in first-quarter sales while the broader market declined.

We break down the real numbers behind today's market: Henderson County's limited 3.8-month inventory supply, Buncombe County's higher $676,000 average home price, and Transylvania County's surprising luxury market strength with more $2 million+ sales than you might expect. These neighboring communities tell a fascinating story of micromarket variations that smart buyers and sellers need to understand.

The episode highlights North Carolina's remarkable 72% home price appreciation over the last five years, substantially outpacing the national average of 57%. This growth means the average homeowner now sits on approximately $311,000 in equity - wealth that can be leveraged for downsizing, upgrading, renovations, or even funding new life adventures.

For buyers concerned about today's interest rate environment, we offer a fresh perspective worth considering: the tradeoff between yesterday's lower rates with frenzied bidding wars versus today's higher rates with more negotiating power. Would you rather pay $100,000 over asking with a low rate or get $100,000 off with a higher rate? This nuanced discussion challenges conventional thinking about "waiting for the perfect time" to enter the market.

Looking ahead, housing experts consistently project continued appreciation through at least 2029, creating compelling financial arguments for homeownership versus renting. A $400,000 home purchased today could gain nearly $80,000 in value by 2030 - while renters paying $1,500 monthly would spend $90,000 with nothing to show for it. That's a potential $170,000 wealth difference over just five years.

Ready to explore your options in today's market? Whether you're considering buying before selling, selling before buying, or simply want to understand what your home is worth in today's environment, we're here to provide clarity and guidance tailored to your unique situation.

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 georgerrealestategroupradiocom 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 positive news about your local real estate market and community. So grateful to be here with you on this rainy Thursday April 24th and, wow, time flies while you're having fun. And so much to to be grateful for. I mean, things are turning green, the mute, the? Uh leaves are beautiful, the grass is beautiful. I mean this the water, the rain that we've had, um, again, the, the four distinct seasons that we experience here, uh, in hendersonville and western north carolina. Again, one of the a lot of the, one of the reasons people love moving here is the four distinct seasons, the, the mild climates and the, the quality of life, uh, or some of the reasons people love moving here is the four distinct seasons, the, the mild climates and the, the quality of life, uh, or some of the main reasons. I I heard north carolina was in 2024, the, the second highest net incoming migrated state in in the united states. In 2024, which I'd heard it was moving up in the ranks, but the it was the second highest net of increased population in the United States in 2024. And again, for all the reasons we love to call this place home, so many people are continuing to find that for so many reasons quality of life, the lower taxes, the location there's so much climate there's. There's again, so many reasons the, the more affordable home prices, which, again, that's relative, I understand that compared to, maybe, where someone's coming from. But we're just grateful to be here with you on this thursday morning. We're live on whkp, we're going to share some information about what's going on in the local real estate market and the community. And again, again, if you're curious about the market, if you're curious about your home and what your home's worth in the context of the real estate market, we will dive into that, but of course, you can call us directly 828-393-0134, 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestatebygregcom. We podcast all of our radio shows. You can follow us on social media Instagram and Facebook and then you can see all of our open houses that we do. We are frequent. We are very committed to our open houses because they work. We see so much activity happening with our open houses and you might find that fascinating because of the environment you hear and certainly the news you hear about the market, and we will jump into some of the news that they just released this morning nationally and we'll see how our numbers look compared to the national numbers they released for March 2025. But before we do that, the Georgia Real Estate Group we're so grateful to serve the community through real estate.

Speaker 1:

This is my 23rd my North Carolina broker's license. We serve Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We have an incredible group of agents and staff here to serve you. We're so enthusiastic. We are passionate about helping people with their real estate needs. We're also passionate about our community, making this community a better place and, as we saw through the hurricane and even through the fires again, neighbors helping neighbors, people stepping up and then within our nonprofit community. Just the amazing work being done, which was even more highlighted during the recent last six, seven months of what our community has gone through, but the resilience that our community has, the generosity that our community has. What a place to call home and, again, grateful to serve the community through real estate. So we'd love to connect with you. Find us online at realestatebygregcom. Stop by our office there in Flat Rock. We are on Rainbow Row and we serve, like I said, upstate South Carolina. We have agents that live in South Carolina and are South Carolina real estate agents. So we have agents that we can help you both in North and South Carolina and we'd love to connect with you. Follow us on our podcast. We podcast all of our radio shows. I was doing some math. I mean, this is my 20th year with my North Carolina broker's license. This year we passed over 1,500 families served in my career, also collectively at our George Roll State group. We have over 100 years of combined experience and we're growing. We're still again.

Speaker 1:

You might find that interesting, the market being what it is. We've helped more people this year than we did last year, and that was true of the year before. We just keep growing, even in the market that we're in, and the market's the market. The interest rates are the interest rates, the economy is the economy. But we know real estate happens around life and life happens. Therefore, real estate happens. It could be a really positive reason why you're buying or selling or it could be a challenging reason. Whatever that might be, we'd love to interview for the job and have the conversation about.

Speaker 1:

You know what your goals are, what your dreams are, what the market's doing. You know what is your plans. Do you want to sell before you buy? Do you want to buy before you sell? We've helped so many people navigate through that. We also continue to see multiple offers. You know, in this market you might find that fascinating, but we do. And guess what? There's still a lot of. You see a lot of price drops because both things are happening. You can see homes that are priced right they're getting multiple offers and then you see homes that have been on the market. They are not getting the activity or the offers and therefore there's an adjustment. I mean, just in the last seven days in Henderson County there's been 47 new listings. There's been 44 price drops. There's been 40 homes go under contract. This is single family. I'm not referencing land or townhomes or condos. I love looking at single family homes as the barometer in Henderson County and then there's been 37 homes closed. I mean talk about a balanced market there. I mean just as many homes, almost as many homes, are going under contract each week as they are going on the market and then as many homes are closing.

Speaker 1:

Now I was referencing the report that came out nationally. Existing home sales fell almost 6% 5.9% month over month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.02 million in March 2020. Year over year, sales drew back 2.4% and this is according to the NAR chief economist, lawrence Young. He said this home buying and selling remains sluggish in March due to the affordability challenges associated with higher mortgage rates. Residential housing mobility currently at historic lows and signals the troublesome possibility of a less economic mobility for society. Again, this is now that's nationally. That's nationally and specifically Henderson County. Well, we were actually on par In. The first quarter of Henderson County was up 7% in regards to the number of homes sold the first quarter this year versus the first quarter last year, and the month of March this year was exactly the same number of homes single family homes sold this March versus last March.

Speaker 1:

So our market, again you got to. You got to look at what the national news is saying versus what's happening locally and that's where we can provide local data, local information. We can understand the nuances of what's happening here locally. Again, you have all these national news sources and they're saying the sky is falling. But what's really happening? The market here in Henderson County is very strong. It's very healthy. I mean, currently there's only 486 active single family homes on the market, only 486 active single family homes on the market. And over the last 12 months we've been averaging 126 single family homes a month selling. That's actually we have. We've been averaging 126 single-family homes a month selling that's actually we have, like I said, an uptick. We've had an increase. If you look at the rolling 12, this 12 versus the previous rolling 12, there's been a significant excuse me, a slight increase in the number of single-family homes sold. But the 486 available, divided by what we're averaging selling, we still have less than a four-month supply of inventory. The supply and demand is still very steady.

Speaker 1:

Technically, we're in a seller's market. Now, even though you're in a seller's market, it doesn't mean you can't expect price adjustments. People are still doing price adjustments because they overpriced their home. People are still doing price adjustments because they overpriced their home. So the average single-family home price in Henderson County is at $542,500. And that's come down. It peaked out at one point at $551,000. But the average single-family home price so far oh excuse me over the last 12 months is at $542,000.

Speaker 1:

Now I've had people say well, what's happening in Buncombe County? You know so Henderson County is averaging 126 single family homes a month selling. And again, curious people are curious what's happening in Buncombe County? So 126 on average a month in Henderson County. Well, buncombe County is averaging 221, 222 single-family homes a month selling in Buncombe County and they have a larger population and so they have 949 active homes on the market. But if you divide it by the number of homes that they're averaging, they have a 4.2-month supply. We have a 3.8-month supply. The other thing to acknowledge is our average price in Henderson County over the last 12 months is at $542. The average single-family home price in Buncombe County over the last 12 months $676. Almost $677. Average single-family home price in Buncombe County over the last 12 months $676. Almost $677.

Speaker 1:

Okay, let's move over to our neighbors in Transylvania County. What's happening in Transylvania County? Their average price in Transylvania County is at $7.36. Transylvania County is more expensive than Buncombe County and Henderson County Almost $200,000 higher than Henderson County. That's the average. Now there's also significantly less homes moving in Transylvania County. They're only averaging 35 homes a month in Transylvania County. The number of available homes in Transylvania county is at 194. So just a very different market in transylvania county than than uh henderson county and buncombe county. So even though there's significantly less homes selling uh only 35 a month, which is surprising you might find that very surprising. Number of uh homes sold over the last 12 months is only 422. 35 homes a month selling in Transylvania County, only 194 available. So they actually have a 5.5 month supply. But it's staggering to consider the average price in Transylvania County at $736,000. There's been some significant high-priced homes sold there. Actually over 20 homes over 2 million sold in Transylvania County, which is again proportionate to the number of homes sold. And, by the way, henderson County we've only had six single family homes sold over $2 million. So they have a higher. They've had more homes in that price point sell than Henderson County. Now Buncombe County has had almost a hundred homes sell over $2 million in Buncombe County.

Speaker 1:

Again, these markets. Each county is different. Every I mean there's so many, even though we're right next to each other. There's nuances for each county, different I mean there's so many, even though we're right next to each other there's nuances for each county. There's differences. Certainly, the prices are very different. The demand is very different. The inventory is very different. I mean to some degree. Again, henderson County has a 3.8 month supply. Buncombe County has a 4.2 month supply. Transylvania County has a 5.5-month supply. You know six months is considered a balanced market. But you know, I dive into these numbers to say we know the numbers, we study the numbers.

Speaker 1:

But your unique situation, your unique home, you know again, do you sell before you buy? Do you buy before you sell? You know what is right for you. We can help you navigate through that and what it might look like for you. You might be surprised Again, these are on national, some national numbers as to I mean we've seen our prices keep going up but the you know what your home is worth is has certainly still increased, even though we've had a slight, slight decline in an average single family home price. Even though we've had a slight, slight decline in an average single family home price.

Speaker 1:

But your wealth, a lot of it comes from the equity you have in your home. You know, in a home, equity is the difference between what your home is worth and what you still owe on your mortgage, and so it grows over time as home values rise and as you pay down your mortgage. But I mean, for example, if your home's, you know, now worth $500,000 and you have $200,000 left to pay off in your mortgage. But I mean, for example, if your home's now worth $500,000 and you have $200,000 left to pay off in your mortgage, that means, very simply, you have $300,000 in equity. So most homeowners are sitting on some pretty significant equity. Right now, the average homeowner with a mortgage in the United States has $311,000 in equity. That's on average, and so that we've just over the last this is amazing Over the last five years. Nationwide we've seen a 57% increase in home prices over the last five years. Now each state's different. North Carolina saw a 72% increase in the last five years. Texas saw 50%. We continue to see great appreciation here, but this is wild. North Carolina saw 72% increase of appreciation. So again, the market locally versus each of the different states.

Speaker 1:

But if you purchased your home more than a few years ago. This means your home is worth significantly more than when you first bought it and it just shows how much prices have climbed. Also, people are living in their homes longer. Data from the National Association of Realtors show that the average homeowner stays in their home for about 10 years now, from 2009 to 2024, the tenure on average was 9.25 years. This is wild. From 1985 to 2008, the average tenure was six years, so the median tenure was you know it was, excuse me, the tenure was significantly, is significantly, higher since 2009,. Almost 10 years, and so it's longer than what it used to be. It's over, it's almost a decade.

Speaker 1:

And so you've built equity just by making your mortgage payments and riding the wave of rising home prices. So if you've been in your home for a long time, you know you've, you've accumulated significant appreciation just from price appreciation. So what can you do with that? Well, if you've lived in your home two out of a five-year period, if you're an individual, you do not pay capital gains taxes on the first $250,000. As a married couple, it's the first $500,000 of gains, and I'm not talking about what you paid for versus what your equity is. I'm talking about, if you've had the gain the first $500,000 of gain as a married couple's tax-free you can sell your home and put it in the bank. You don't have to reinvest it.

Speaker 1:

You could also use it to buy your next home. You could use your equity to renovate your current home to better suit your needs. Maybe you want to use it to improve the quality of your life. I mean, maybe you want to start a business you've always dreamed of. Equity could be used for startup costs or equipment or marketing again, which could ultimately increase your earning potential. So there's a lot of different uses for the equity. Or just keep doing what you're doing and keep building up equity in your home. Again, the reality is your home's worth a lot more than you realize, and whether you're thinking about selling, upgrading or simply want to understand your options, the equity is not just a number, it's a tool. So if you know, if you sold your home and had significant equity to work with, what would you do with it? And we'd certainly love to interview for the job Again. Do you sell to buy? Do you buy to sell? I mean like there's so many different paths forward with that, but we can provide clarity about the local market and about your situation. Give us a call 828-393-0134, 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestatebygregcom.

Speaker 1:

We podcast all of our radio shows. By the way, we're here every Friday morning at 845 sponsoring the Hometown Heroes series. Tomorrow morning we have Margaret Nelson. She's the operations and procurement manager for the children's service Department at WNC Source and her coworkers tell us that she did so much to help a lot of people with just remarkable work after Helene and during the pandemic, and so we're going to shine a light, a spotlight, on Ms Nelson, the dedicated and procurement manager at WNC Source. Again, we're here every Friday morning sponsoring the Hometown Hero Series. We've had incredible conversations. You can go back and actually listen to some of our other conversations that we've had and other hometown heroes and again, amazing. And if you know somebody that's making a difference in the community, I mean somebody you want to honor, somebody you want to shine a light on we'd love to have the conversation. We've had many conversations throughout the years sponsoring the program.

Speaker 1:

Another thing that's certainly on topic that we hear all the time is these mortgage rates are just moving all over. I mean, one day they're down a little, the next day they're up and of course, as a buyer you've got to decide when it's a good time to buy or even if you're under contract, when do you lock in. And I know it can be frustrating and even confusing, but there is some stability in the market and in the sense of, like you know, there's so much economic changes and so the up and down volatility is what they're, it's just expected, and so you know one of the reasons why trying to time the market isn't you can't time it, it's you can't control what happens with the mortgage rates and, and you know, even with the economic uncertainty there's, there's things you can do. You can control your credit score. You can control your loan type and even the loan term. So that's why you still can get the best rate possible in today's market. You know your credit score really affects the mortgage rate that you qualify. Even a small change in your score can make a big difference in your monthly payment, and so keeping your credit score again, that's one of the things you can control to get the best rate possible.

Speaker 1:

Also, the loan types. I mean different loan types are available and there different requirements, and there's unique requirements for qualified buyers and this is a recent quote from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. There are several broad categories of mortgage loans, such as conventional, fha, usda and VA loans. Lenders decide which products to offer, and loan types have different eligibility requirements, which products to offer and loan types have different eligibility requirements, and this is interesting. Rates can be significantly different depending on what type of loan, what loan type, you choose, and so talking to lenders and understanding your options will help you better understand all the options available. So, again, we have wonderful real estate professionals that we work with and recommend, and they are able to provide clarity for our buyers as they decide. And again, a lot of our sellers are talking to our mortgage lenders first, before they even put their home on the market, to understand, hey, what can I qualify for? And even though the rates are higher, you can still get something that works for you. And then again, if and when interest rates go back down, but what you qualify for now certainly is.

Speaker 1:

Well, this is something to consider. When interest rates were really low, yes, you got a great low interest rates. But when the market was so crazy, in some cases you might see $50,000, $75,000, or $100,000 above asking price. But how about now, where you could get a? You know, in some cases maybe you get $100,000 off a price of a home but you had to pay a higher interest rate. You know, would you rather have $100,000 off the price of a home and have a higher interest rate or pay over $100,000, but have that, you know, extremely low interest rate? Again, it's, you know those are. It's just how you look at it and in your perspective. I'm not saying getting a hundred thousand dollars off your home, off a home price, is something we're seeing every day, but we are seeing sellers certainly negotiate their prices more than what we'd seen before, especially with the inventory that we have. So so buyers have more options right now than before, and so it's not the crazy environment that we saw before All of this to say you know, we take a very personalized approach to your situation, your unique home, your unique situation, your plans.

Speaker 1:

Are you selling to downsize or upsize? Are you going to take advantage of to downsize or upsize? Are you going to take advantage of? You know the, the, the increased inventory? Do you wait? I mean people. You know what's the, what's the saying Don't wait to buy real estate. You buy real estate and wait. You know, because the thing about homeownership is is the home working for you? Is this it. Homeownership is a long game and we know over time real estate appreciates. And so if you're waiting for those interest rates to go down and the interesting thing is, if interest rates go down, most likely prices are going to go up. The longer you wait sometimes, the more buying could cost you.

Speaker 1:

I mean they are saying I mean in each quarter the housing market experts weigh in for the home price expectation survey from Fannie Mae and they consistently agree on one thing Nationally, home prices are expected to rise through at least 2029. And so we've absolutely we've gone past the sharp price increases, but experts project a steady, healthy and sustainable increase of 3% to 4% going forward. Of course, local markets, different states, the reason prices go up is because of supply and demand. We still have low inventory level here and we still have strong demand. Even though the demand's not what it used to be, it's still healthy. Like I said, henderson County is averaging 126 single-family homes a month selling. Buncombe County is averaging 222 homes a month selling. Transylvania County is averaging 35 homes a month selling. You might say, well, 35 is not very much, but guess what? Transylvania County has less than 200 homes available. You know they are anticipating prices to keep going up. So next year home prices will be higher than this year. So the longer you wait, the more the purchase price will go up.

Speaker 1:

Now, that's an interesting concept too. If you're selling and buying in the same market, well, it's a wash. I mean, you're selling in the same market that you're buying in, so you're trading the equity that you have in your current home and most likely, moving into the home that meets your needs better. Also, if you're waiting for the perfect mortgage rate to happen, it could backfire. If rates dip slightly, their projected home price growth could still make waiting more expensive, and if prices are going to keep going up, that means if you buy now, you're going to build equity sooner. Again, it's the long game. It's the long game.

Speaker 1:

For example, let's just put some numbers together, based on the expert projections. If you bought a typical $400,000 home in 2025, it could gain nearly $80,000 in value by 2030. That's based on that three to 4% annual appreciation almost $80,000. Conversely and again, that's over five years Now I don't know if you can find anything for this years. Now I don't know if you can find anything for this, but $1,500 a month in rent over the next five years would be $90,000 that you paid in rent versus if you were to buy a home today. And we have that three to 4% appreciation over the next five years, it's an $80,000 gain. It's almost a $170,000 swing between if you're renting and owning. And again, owning is right if it's right for you. Again, if you're staying in the area, it's a long-term hold, again, if you qualify for it, not waiting to buy.

Speaker 1:

And then, of course, so many people own their home here locally. We're helping them downsize, we're helping people move into retirement communities. We're helping people get closer to their grandkids. There's certainly challenges in today's market, but there's so many ways to make it work. And again, whether it's different neighborhoods or looking to different financing options, or, again, do you buy before you sell, we've helped so many people this year locate the next home simultaneously while walking through selling their home. It can be done. And that's where having a real estate professional there to walk alongside with you, navigating through the market, navigating through the nuances, helping you negotiate, being an advocate for you, we'd love to help advocate, we'd love to facilitate your move, your next move. So give us a call. 828-393-0134, 828-393-0134.

Speaker 1:

We are so passionate and enthusiastic about helping our clients navigate through the home buying and selling process. You can call us directly. You can find us online at realestatebygregcom. You can stop by our office at 2720 Greenville Highway, there on Rainbow Road, flat Rock, along our many friends there. I joke, it's a dangerous place for an office If you've not come by the Flat Rock Bakery or the barbecue Hubba Hubba Barbecue or the amazing breakfast spot Hubba Lou or Campfire Grill all our great friends there. But stop by or just call us. And something I didn't touch on is we've been walking alongside with our clients through their investment properties and 1031 exchanges and tax strategies with your real estate. Or even you know what does it look like to think strategically with your estate and real estate and maybe giving to charities with your real estate. You know we can help you navigate through those things as well. So there's so many different conversations that we're having. Like I said, we're also growing. We're hiring more agents. There's so much opportunity. We're so passionate about helping the community through real estate. You know, again, we'd love to help connect with you. Give us a call 828-393-0134, 828-393-0134.

Speaker 1:

Before wrapping up, we do have a couple open houses that I want to share with you about. We have an open house. We have two open houses this weekend. Actually On Saturday. We have an open house on Wisdom Cove, 73 Wisdom Cove Road in Flat Rock. This home also had a price reduction it is now $750. This home has been completely upgraded and remodeled Incredible custom kitchen, beautiful bathrooms, hardwood floors. 73 Wisdom Cove Road in Flat Rock is going to be open this Saturday from 12 to 2. And again with a new, improved price of $750. Also, we have a new listing at 1938 Upper Ridgewood Boulevard in Flat Rock Only $350,000.

Speaker 1:

In Druid Hills. This home was built in 2020. That's going to be open this Sunday from 2 to 4. Again, so we have some great new listings. We have some great open houses this Saturday from 12 to 2 on Wisdom Cove and then Sunday at Upper Ridgewood Boulevard, both of these homes. You can find it on our Facebook page and on our website, realestatebygregcom. We have some great listings. We also have some listings and open houses coming up May 4th as well. We're already planning ahead for some listings that haven't even hit the market yet, but we're working diligently to get them open. We also have another open house at Robert E Lee Drive, the home 19 Robert E Lee Drive, may 3rd, and again, two new listings that we have that are already having open houses planned for May 4th. Follow us on social media Facebook and Instagram and you can find all the open houses that we have planned.

Speaker 1:

But, again, grateful to be here with you every Thursday morning sharing with you positive news about your real estate market and community. Again tomorrow morning at 845, our Hometown Heroes series Be sure to tune in Again, grateful we're here every Thursday. Thank you so much for your support. Thank you so much for our listeners that call in Again. It's amazing the calls that we get in each week from people listening to the radio and we're so thankful for the support. We love helping our community, we love serving our neighbors and I hope you have a great day, I hope you have a great week and we'll see you tomorrow morning.

Speaker 1:

There's a strange thing that happens in life. Sometimes, when things are just okay, we stay stuck longer than we would if things were truly bad. It's called the region beta paradox and explains why people stay in homes that kind of work neighborhoods that used to be okay, or rentals where the price isn't too bad because it's comfortable, but comfort can cost you your dreams. Or rentals where the price isn't too bad because it's comfortable. But comfort can cost you your dreams. What if you didn't wait for something to break before you made a breakthrough? What if the nudge you've been waiting for is now?

Speaker 1:

At the George Real Estate Group, we hear it all the time. I'm so glad I did it while I could. The move, the decision, the change, before it's too late. Whether you need more space, less stress or just the decision, the change, before it's too late. Whether you need more space, less stress or just a fresh start, you don't have to stay stuck, you don't have to settle and you don't have to do it alone. Call the George Real Estate Group at 828-393-0134. Don't let just fine hold you back. Let's make a move while you still can.

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.