George Real Estate Group Radio Broadcast

Market Insights: Henderson County Housing Trends and Investment Opportunities

• George Real Estate Group

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Wondering what's really happening in the Western North Carolina real estate market? This episode cuts through the noise with actual data from Henderson County, revealing both challenges and opportunities in today's changing landscape.

The numbers tell a fascinating story: more homes have sold this year than during the same period last year, despite higher interest rates and economic uncertainty. With the average single-family home price hovering at $538,000 (slightly down from previous peaks), we're witnessing a gentle market recalibration after years of continuous appreciation. Cash purchases account for one-third of all transactions, demonstrating remarkable resilience in our local market.

Beyond the statistics, we explore how life transitions drive real estate decisions regardless of market conditions. From downsizing empty-nesters to growing families needing more space, real estate movements reflect personal journeys rather than perfect market timing. As we often say, "Life happens. Therefore, real estate happens."

For investors, our deep dive into Henderson County's short-term rental market reveals surprising insights: over 1,000 entire-home Airbnb properties averaging $240 nightly rates with 50-60% occupancy. The typical annual revenue of $23,000 per property raises important questions about whether the investment and effort make sense compared to traditional long-term rentals or other investment vehicles.

Whether you're considering buying your dream home, selling your current property, or exploring investment opportunities, understanding today's market conditions is crucial for making confident decisions. Give us a call at 828-393-0134 for a pressure-free, no-obligation conversation about your specific real estate questions and goals.

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 Georgia Real Estate Group live radio broadcast here on the queue every Monday morning, sharing with you positive news about your local real estate market and community. So grateful to be here with you. Just so. So much to be thankful for on this rainy Monday morning. And wow, time's flying. Can you believe we are almost halfway through the month of May? Again, hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend and again celebrating all the mothers in our lives, whether it's your own mother or the mother of your children or mothers just in general. Again, what a special day it was and again, hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. Also, I hope you participated in the Stamp Out Hunger food drive this past Saturday. I'm sure we'll get some numbers and reporting back from that event which again makes such a big difference in our community with our local nonprofits making a difference with food insecurities Again, just the generosity of our community. And again, the needs are real here and that's why we have over. You know, occasionally we have different nonprofits joining us on the radio to share and bring awareness of what ways you can give back, ways you can participate. And again thank you for participating on this past Saturday's Stamp Out Hunger food drive for our local community. It was held across the country. If you're tuning in for the first time ever, the George Real Estate Group, we're located in Flat Rock, right next to the Flat Rock Bakery, hubba, hubba Barbecue, campfire Grill and our new friends at Hubba Lou Breakfast it used to be the former Honey and Salt and then the Wrinkled Egg and Dogwood and Rent WNC. All those great local and independent businesses. The George Real Estate Group's local and independent as well. We have the experience of helping over 1,500 families throughout the years and we have a combined experience of over 100 years of combined experience at the George Real Estate Group.

Speaker 1:

So if you're curious about the real estate market, if you're curious about a career in the real estate market, if you're curious about your investments or ways to tax strategies with real estate 1031 exchanges, we can have the conversation. There's no pressure, there's no cost, there's no obligation. Give us a call 828-393-0134, 828-393-0134. We'd love to have the conversation with you about the real estate market. And, again, maybe you're thinking about a career in real estate, maybe you're thinking about investing in real estate. Maybe you're curious about, maybe you're thinking about a career in real estate. Maybe you're thinking about investing in real estate. Maybe you're curious about, maybe you're thinking about doing an Airbnb. Maybe you're thinking about your personal home. Do you sell before you buy? Do you buy before you sell? What's going on in the local real estate market? We can have that conversation. There's no pressure, there's no cost, there's no obligation and, again, we'd be honored to have the confidential consultation. Give us a call 828-393-0134, 828-393-0134,.

Speaker 1:

Or stop by our office in Flat Rock. We're there on Rainbow Row. We serve all of Western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina. We have agents in the upstate as well that can help you. If you're thinking about maybe moving there or moving from there to here we have you covered. We also work with raw land and we've been advising developers. We've been advising. If you're thinking about selling and looking at a tax event with a capital gains, we have solutions for that. Again. Maybe you're not even aware of 1031 exchanges. We can have the conversation. Not even aware of 1031 exchanges, we can have the conversation.

Speaker 1:

Just in the last seven days in Henderson County, just to give you a snapshot of our single family home market in Henderson County, there's been 42 new listings. There's been 59 homes go under contract. There's been 22 homes closed, which during the middle of the month we tend to see less closings. A lot of people are closing on their properties at the end of the month or even at the beginning of the month. But again, we've actually had more homes. We've sold more single family homes year to date than we did last year during the same timeframe. So again there's been a slight uptick in the number of homes selling, just a slight uptick. There's been a slight downtick with the average single-family home price over the last 12 months. The average single-family home price over the last 12 months is at $538. The previous 12 months was at $542. So slight decline in the average single-family home price, which is also reflective of.

Speaker 1:

We see a lot of price reductions. In the last seven days was there not only 42 new listings, and again it's wonderful to see the number of homes going under contract, which was at 59. There was also 43 price reductions. So we know when homes are priced correctly and sometimes homes are priced correctly right out of the gate, because we're still seeing multiple offers, we're still seeing homes sell with multiple offers. We also see homes that have sat on the market longer and if it's not selling, there's no amount of marketing that can overcome price or condition, and so the price has to be reflective of the condition. The condition has to be reflective of the price and so there's been 43 price reductions in the last seven days in Henderson County. So about 10% of our market is seeing price reductions. And again, when the home's priced correctly, then we see the homes are moving. So when it's priced correctly, we see the home moving.

Speaker 1:

Right now there's less than 500 active single-family homes in the market. Less than 500 active single-family homes in the market, only 494 active single-family homes in the market. We've been averaging some 125 homes a month selling. Over half of the homes still are selling in the first 30 days. Also, we see a third of the homes one in three homes sold in Henderson County are purchased with cash, so we still see a strong cash purchasing power happening.

Speaker 1:

So, again, whether it's your personal home, whether it's an investment home, we'd love to have the conversation. Give us a call. 828-393-0134,. 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestatebygregcom. Also, follow us on social media Facebook and Instagram and then we also podcast all of our radio shows. We've been podcasting now for a couple of years. We have over 11,000 downloads of the podcast and that's been slowly growing but again getting a lot of. We know we're having quite the reach because we get calls every single week, people listening to us on the radio, and we're so grateful for that. So if you're thinking of buying, selling or investing in real estate or career in real estate, give us a call. 828-393-0134. 828-393-0134. Love to have the conversation. There's one of our more recent blogs and you can find this on our website georgerealestategroupradiocom.

Speaker 1:

It's interesting how the market housing forecast for the second half of the year. The environment that we're in nationally rising home prices, the mortgage rate swings the housing market has a lot of people wondering what's next, and people are always asking is now the right time to buy, is now the right time to sell, and so, again, just looking at what some of the leading housing experts are saying in regards to the projections for the rest of the year, there was a quote from the Business Insider that said this in regards to forecasting that said this in regards to forecasting you know, as mortgage rates go down this year, affordability may improve slightly for homebuyers. Inventory is also expected to grow, which should help moderate price growth and making finding a home easier. They are saying this the mortgage rates should come down slightly. You know, while a major drop isn't on the table, forecasters are calling for a modest decline in rates in the months ahead as the economic outlook becomes more certain. Based on the information we have right now, their expected rates could end up on average. I mean, this is based on a number of different forecasts. They're saying at the end of 2025, their forecasting rates to be at around, on average, according to the different forecasts, at 6.39%. And, of course, even the slightest decrease is a welcome change. A seemingly small decline can still help bring down your future mortgage payments and give you a little bit more breathing room, but the thing is everything from inflation to employment and broader economic shifts are going to have an impact on where the rates go. So again, timing the market is impossible, but again there is some up and down, of course, along the way.

Speaker 1:

The other thing that helps is the inventory. Inventory levels are increasing and not at the levels that we saw in the previous housing cycle. I mean we still have just a four-month supply of inventory less than a four-month supply, but a large portion. And depending on what market you're in, we're seeing a lot of inventory in some of the larger markets but here locally, like I said, less than 500 active single-family homes in the market. And so it's still about supply and demand. I mean this is interesting. This is a quote from a co -founder. Lance Lambert of ResiClub said this the fact that inventory is still rising year over year strongly suggests that the national active housing inventory for sale is likely to end the year higher. So again, if rate forecasts pan out as the experts say, that could be enough to tip some more sellers off the fence, because I think a lot of sellers are waiting for these interest rates. But I will say this regardless of the inventory levels, regardless of the prices, regardless of the interest rates.

Speaker 1:

We know real estate happens around life and we say this all the time because we see this day in and day out. Life happens. Therefore, real estate happens. Maybe you're in a situation where you've been in your home, it's been such a wonderful place for you and your family, but life has changed. Maybe you're looking for a place to downsize, maybe you're looking for something that's smaller and easier to take care of. Maybe you're at a point where it's just too hard to take care of the house and the yard. And it's, by the way, the psychological piece of that, the coming to acceptance on that and realizing that, hey, this current chapter of our life might be changing. And again, change is hard.

Speaker 1:

We don't minimize that and it's also there's so much that goes behind that, whether it's looking to downsize, whether you're thinking of selling and then buying, or maybe you're looking about going into retirement community and then your finances, and there's so many pieces of the puzzle. And then who are we going to get to help us do this? And we have people at the George Olson Group, we have our network of vendors that we work with to help our clients navigate through life's changes, and so I hear this frequently from our clients that they're thankful they did it while they could, rather than waiting too long and then it was just felt too insurmountable. So, whatever your situation is, we provide consultation, we can provide a plan, we can provide a path forward to help you navigate through whatever is changing in your life. And so, do you downsize, do you upsize, do you sell? Do you get into a place? Maybe you get into a place, maybe you get into a retirement community, whatever it might be. Again, we don't minimize these life changes, and the market's the market, the economy's the economy. The interest rates are the interest rates. The prices are where they're at.

Speaker 1:

In regards to prices, as more homes hit the market, there'll be less upward pressure on home prices, and so expert forecasts are still calling for growth, but the pace for growth is slowing down as inventory climbs. There's an average of all seven forecasts show prices will rise about 2% this year. Isn't it interesting, though? They're calling for a 2% appreciation. But if I look at a rolling 12 months in Henderson County versus the previous 12 months, our average price is slightly down. It's down, which is again it's. For years we've been watching the number go up in Henderson County, year after year, month after month our prices. We were reporting literally since 2011. We've been on this 14-year rise of home prices going up and that's been a function of supply and demand. But the prices are softening. The average single-family home price in Henderson County is at $538 over the last 12 months, which at one point we peaked out at $550 in the $550s and we're coming down softly with pricing. And we're coming down softly with pricing and again, until we see a significant increase in the number of homes for sale, you won't see anything dramatic. But they're saying nationally they're anticipating home prices to still go up 2% this year and again it means that with these home prices not rising as double digits as what we've seen before, again it could give you some breathing room. Again, home prices are still strong.

Speaker 1:

If you're buying and selling in the same market as a client, you're trading equity, you're moving equity from one home into the equity of another home and of course there's the cost of selling, the cost of buying, and you got to decide what's right for you. But we provide clarity, we provide information, we provide a path forward. It's not just about selling your house. Maybe you have an investment property and you have been caring and concerned for your tenant, and your tenant is important to you, and so we've even helped our landlords find new places for their tenant so that they can feel good about their tenant finding another place to rent before they sell their home. We look at the entire situation and try to provide solutions and a path forward, not just for you selling, but if it means finding a new place for your tenant, we can help you do that.

Speaker 1:

I am going to share in the second half of the show. I have some fascinating information. People are always asking us about the Airbnb market. We've seen some softening of the market, but I think you might find it fascinating. What's going on in the Airbnb market the number of Airbnbs for sale, not for sale, the number of Airbnbs on the market, the average price that people are getting for Airbnbs, what are occupancy rates. And again, we're going to look and dive into the Airbnb market because I think it's fascinating to look at that. A lot of people, a lot of investors, have bought Airbnbs, but then we see people putting their Airbnbs for sale and again, every situation is unique and different, but I think the Airbnb market we did a market analysis that you're going to find interesting here, so we're here every Monday morning on the queue sharing you positive news about your local real estate market and community.

Speaker 1:

Again, the average single-family home price over the last 12 months is at $538. We're averaging some 125 single-family homes a month selling the market is still moving. Again, you've got to be careful what you hear about the news saying the sky is falling. We've actually seen more single-family homes sold year-to-date this year than we did year-to-date last year. So the demand is strong. Inventory levels are still low Again. Overall, it's still a great time to buy and sell if it's right for you.

Speaker 1:

You're listening to the Georgia Real Estate Group live radio broadcast here on the Q every Monday morning. We have a short break, so stay tuned in. We'll be right back. Good morning and welcome back. You're listening to the George Willis-State Group live radio broadcast here on the Q every Monday morning.

Speaker 1:

I thought I'd do a dive into the Airbnb market. People are always asking us about Airbnbs and I did a dive into the market analysis of the Airbnbs because I mean, we certainly saw an uptick of Airbnbs during COVID and it seemed like everybody was getting into it or wanting to get into it from an investment standpoint. But you know, just hear the numbers. Now I'm just focusing on entire home rentals. You know, the Airbnb market also includes people can rent out their rooms, they can rent out rooms, they can rent out a portion of their house. But I'm focusing on entire home rentals and according to recent analysis, there's roughly 1,100 plus active short-term rentals in the Hendersonville area and 93% of them are entire home units, and so it's over 1,000 entire home rentals are currently available in the market.

Speaker 1:

So this is, you know, just again. This is just. It's a strong. I mean, that's a lot of inventory. So, but the majority of the Hendersonville short-term rentals are whole house or apartments being rented out. So the average nightly rate for an entire home rental in Hendersonville is relatively high, reflecting the market's mix of vacation cabins and family-sized homes.

Speaker 1:

But according to this data from AirDNA it's a website the research website on Airbnb indicates an average daily rate of around $240 per night for Hendersonville rentals. And then this is an overall mean. It was skewed upward by these larger vacation homes and also the peak season pricing. But this is where this gets interesting. The median nightly price was actually only around $129. So, in other words, while larger homes command the $200 to $300 a night, the more modest two-bedroom might rent for roughly $130 a night on average. The other interesting thing is nightly rates have been fairly steady or rising slightly. The AirDNA reports about a 3% year-over-year increases on the prices. So again, the seasonal months versus where they discount rates in the winter, all of that.

Speaker 1:

But another interesting thing is occupancy rates. Occupancy rates for short-term rentals indicate moderate demand throughout the year, with about half of all nights booked on average. The AirDNA data showed a current average occupancy rate about 50 to 51% for the Hendersonville market, meaning roughly half of the nights in a month are filled on average. Actually, this is a slight improvement from the previous year and this is a 4% increase from the previous year. Also, it's worth noting that well-maintained listings often see higher occupancy than the average. They actually said the median occupancy nights for full-time Hendersonville rentals are about 63%. So again, it suggests that the data suggests that entire home rentals get about 60% of the nights booked, even though the market-wide average is pulled down by part-time listings or even those with limited availability. So again, 50% seems to be the average. Now it's also interesting During the 2020s travel shifts, according to the mountain rentals and also during COVID, it did jump up to about 60%.

Speaker 1:

So, listing growth the number of short-term rentals in Hendersonville has been growing modestly and actually there's been an active listing increase from 3% to 8% according to the data. And again, this just means more people are getting into the market, more properties are being listed on the short-term rental platforms. But again, hendersonville seems to be our current regulations allow the short-term rentals and, of course, neighborhoods. You have to be careful about the covenants and restrictions, the short-term rentals and, of course, neighborhoods you have to be careful about the covenants and restrictions versus, like the city of Asheville, which restricts the short-term rentals. So again, the demand has been keeping up in regards to supply, but a lot of hosts are seeing that the market is leveling off and actually one analysis noted a slight decline year over year in annual rental income. So again, the patterns there's seasonal patterns, there's a lot of things, but overall the Hendersonville short-term rental market for entire homes is very robust. Again, over a thousand000 entire home rentals, the average nightly rate around $200, and then the occupancy rate around 50% to 60%. So again, it's something to be aware of, something to watch. But again, if you're thinking about getting into it, there is Now here's another piece of the puzzle the annual average revenue for an entire home rental in Hendersonville is about $23,000. Based on these numbers, and so we certainly are seeing a lot of it's still conceding demand.

Speaker 1:

But I will say we are seeing people that haven't been successful with it that they're putting their short-term rental on the market. We've had a lot of our buyers when they're looking for homes for sale. We've noticed a lot of short-term rentals. The short-term rental market is not as easy as you might think it is, and so there's a lot of time and effort. I will say, unless there's some unique feature, like maybe a mountain view, or maybe a water feature, or maybe a pool or a hot tub, or I mean some, there's some unique features that can make a difference in getting your home the attention. But but even then again there's the 80 20 rule we hear even in our industry. But you know there's a lot of people that have the Airbnbs they're not, they're not getting the results that they wanted, but it's something to consider. But we are seeing more Airbnbs going back on the market for sale just because people it's just maybe more in what they realize or the effort, maybe they're not making as much money.

Speaker 1:

You got to think about, like I said, that average income about $23,000. That might not make enough sense to invest in that for you in your home. Again, a lot of things to consider as you're considering if it makes sense to do an Airbnb. I would compare it to talking to a property management group to look at what it would make sense time and effort versus maybe do a long-term rental, because long-term rentals are in demand as well. We see a shortage of options for people looking for rent, for homes for rent Again, looking at comparing. But then you're dealing with the cleaning and all the effort and the high turnover. Again, you've got to decide if that makes sense for you and your situation and then ultimately, if neither long-term or short-term rentals make sense for you, we can certainly discuss what it would look like to sell.

Speaker 1:

Maybe you do a 1031 exchange. There's options out there. You don't have to buy into an active real estate investment. We have options for you. We're more passive real estate investments where you can park your money. You can avoid the capital gains, you can still get a return. You can start the depreciation over. We've been helping clients navigate through their real estate investments.

Speaker 1:

So, whether it's your personal home, you're thinking about buying or selling your personal home. You might remember, if you're selling your personal home, if you lived in the home two out of a five-year period, the first $250,000 as an individual is tax-free of profit. If you're a married couple, it's $500,000. I also recently found out if you have children over the age of 18 and they've been living in the home as a primary residence, you can actually claim up to a million dollars $250,000 per person. That can be tax-free and again, that's something you might not be aware of. With personal homes, you can even put your children over 18 on the deed and they can take advantage of that tax event as well for a personal home.

Speaker 1:

Whatever your situation is, we'd love to have the conversation. There's no pressure, there's no cost, there's no obligation. We're so grateful. We've seen a lot of activity at the George Real Estate Group. We have helped so many people already this year and we're continuing to work hard and to help more people. We have a lot of new listings. If you've not had a chance to go to our website, realestatebygregcom, you can see a number of our new listings on the market. We have great inventory. A lot of our homes are moving so quickly and again, sometimes we have to do price adjustments and with the price adjustments then we're seeing a lot of homes again. When it hits their, it's fighting weight per se, but sometimes we hit the price correctly from the beginning. Every market's unique and different. Every home's unique and different. Your neighborhood, again. But whatever it is, we'd love to have the conversation. Give us a call 828-393-0134, 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestatebygregcom. Follow us on social media. We're on Facebook and Instagram. Stop by our office there in Flat Rock, but we'd love to have the conversation. Again, we're glad to connect with you any way we can. Well, time flies when you're having fun. I hope you have a wonderful rainy Monday and again, we're so thankful for our mothers. I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend, but stay tuned in for the music after this show. But again, we'll be here next Monday. Have a great day. We'll see you next Monday.

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. 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 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, 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:

The George Real Estate Group has the experience of selling over 1,200 properties and serving over 1,200 families with their real estate needs in Henderson County and throughout western North Carolina. The George Real Estate Group is located in Flat Rock, North Carolina, near Hendersonville in Henderson County. You can find them online at realestatebygregcom. The George Real Estate Group can be reached at 828-393-0134 or stop by their office at 2720 Greenville Highway, Flat Rock, North Carolina. Flat Rock, North Carolina. Tune in live each week on Monday mornings at 9.05 on WTZQ FM 95.3 and 1600 AM or stream online at WTZQcom.