George Real Estate Group Radio Broadcast

From Price Softening To Strong Sales: What The Data Says About Western North Carolina Housing

• George Real Estate Group

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Headlines say uncertainty, our numbers say resilience. We take you inside the Western North Carolina housing market with clear data, plain talk, and practical strategies you can use today. Sales are up, prices have softened slightly, and inventory sits around five months—conditions that reward preparation and smart negotiation for both buyers and sellers. We look at why lending quality matters, how FHA, VA, and USDA buyers are gaining ground, and what a 17% jump in luxury transactions signals about ongoing relocation and retiree confidence.

From there, we zoom out to five-year forecasts and the supply-and-demand realities that underpin steady appreciation. Rather than chasing timing, we focus on planning: how to protect your equity, structure sales to reduce taxes, and make the most of federal exclusions, especially for surviving spouses navigating major transitions. If you’re holding land, running rentals, or managing a family portfolio, we share ways to think like an asset manager—sequencing moves, exploring deferrals, and staying nimble in a market that rewards clarity.

We also talk about climate migration and why our mountains continue to attract people seeking safety, community, and continuity. No region is risk-free, but Western North Carolina’s geography and social fabric create a powerful foundation for long-term value. To tie it together, we share the cinder block story: how subtracting weight can strengthen structure. Downsizing, simplifying, and focusing on what matters most can turn real estate into a tool for freedom—more time, more margin, and more peace.

Want help mapping your next move? Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s planning a transition, and leave a quick review to tell us what you want covered next. Ready to talk strategy? Call 828-393-0134 or visit realestatebygreg.com.

SPEAKER_02:

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 George Real Estate Group Radio.com for more information. Good morning and welcome to the George Real Estate Group Live Radio broadcast here in the queue every Monday morning. Can you believe we're at the end of October? Time's flying. We're getting close to the big three. Got Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Halloween's coming up around the corner this week. Thanksgiving is close by. Christmas is going to be here before you know it. So much to be thankful for, so much to be grateful for, grateful to be here with you this Monday morning, sharing the positive news about the local real estate market and community. We're going to dive into some of the numbers of what's going on. There's certainly a lot of uh information to share about what's happening here locally, what's happening nationally. Uh certainly our thoughts and prayers are for Jamaica right now with the storm. It's uh it's hard to believe it's been a year since uh the storm Helene that we experienced here locally and the impact that it's had and continues to have in the recovery and everything going on. But grateful to be here with you. If you're tuning in for the first time ever, the George Real Estate Group's located in Flat Rock, right next to the Flat Rock Bakery, Hubba Hubba Barbecue, Hubba Loo, uh Campfire Grill, the Wrinkled Egg, all our friends there on Rainbow Road. Stop by and say hello. We'd love to get you a cup of coffee and and visit with you. We we have so many people that call in. We're so thankful. We know radio works. We hear all the time uh the call-ins that people are listening on the radio, and we're thankful for the impact that radio has. And again, sharing about what's going on in the market. And then, you know, sometimes we just have a conversation about life and what and what's going on in in life, and and we'll dive into that. If you're tuning in for the first time ever, the George Real Estate Group, we've had the experience of helping uh I think we've we're getting close, if we haven't already, 1,600 plus families throughout the years. This is my 20th year with my real estate brokers license. We have incredible agents, incredible staff. We are so enthusiastic about helping our clients navigate through the buying and selling and investing, and also uh, you know, thinking about your real estate investments and helping clients with that from your personal home to your real estate portfolio to investments, real estate investments and commercial and land and development. We are glad to have the conversation. There's no pressure, there's no cost, there's no obligation. You can give us a call at 828-393-0134-828-3930134. You can find us online at realestatebygreg.com, realestatebygreg.com. You can also follow us on social media. Um, we're on Facebook and Instagram. We had a number of a number of open uh houses, very successful open houses this weekend. The activity continues. Uh the activity absolutely continues. Um, and I mean here's some actual you know some some information about what's happening in our local market. I pulled these numbers uh at the beginning of the weekend, you know, as to the single family home market uh in Henderson County, uh comparing the last 12 months to the previous 12 months. And you might be surprised to know we've actually had an 8% increase in the number of single family homes sold, an 8% increase in the current 12 months versus the previous 12 months. That's that's significant. Now, the pricing, the average single family home price over the last 12 months is at 535, and that's actually down uh just shy of 3%, 2.9%. Uh so it's a slight price softening. So then the average single family home price over the last 12 months is at 535. Uh we're averaging some 130 uh homes a month selling over the last 12 months. Uh, you know, that's that's up from the the previous 12 months. We were around 125 single family homes a month selling, and now we're uh at 100, actually 132 homes on average a month selling, and that's in the window of of coming right out of Helene, and that's amazing to acknowledge. Then the the number of cash buyers has dropped a little bit. Um we still it's almost a third, it's still strong. The the the number of um the number of uh cash buyers is still strong in our area. We've had a a slight increase in the number of conventional loans, but the the biggest increase has been in the number of of uh first-time home buyers like FHA or VA or USDA loans. You know, the the those buyers um have been coming in strong, even with the interest rates where they're at. Another fascinating to report is the number of million-dollar homes, million plus dollar homes sales have actually risen 17%. We've had a 17% increase in the number of luxury homes sold. Again, just strong, and that really reflects strong relocation, a lot of you know retiree stability. Again, the market is is is very strong here. We have had a softening of the prices, the single family home average prices soften just a little bit. Um, the total um number of homes sold has increased, 8% increase, so that's significant. And then it's interesting the the number of uh the most um number of homes sold, the biggest range is between the four to six hundred thousand dollar price range. That's where the most activity is happening. Again, between the and then the million dollar home range, again, there's actually been uh an increase of homes sold over a million. So again, the market is stable here. It and we're not seeing and the sky is not falling. Uh, you know, the the the the forecasters are saying, hey, the market, you know, they they're predicting the next really the next five years for things to remain strong. Um they they're they're anticipating still over the next five years modest uh home appreciation in the the the data just is the data. It's not it's showing to it's slowed down, but still growth. And this is across the United States. Uh they're they're they're anticipating continued growth. Actually, uh even the most pessimistic forecasters are saying we'll see prices rise by almost 5% over the next few years. Um overall, though, again, if you take the pessimists and the optimists, you know, the prices are expected to rise about 15% from now through the end of 2029. Now the optimists are saying 26%, but again, putting it into perspective, and it's all about supply and demand. But if you put things in the context and into historical context, the normal over the last 25 years, the average rate of appreciation was actually close closer to four to five percent annually. So so while they're expecting two to three and a half percent increase over the next five years, even though it's slightly below the historical average, it's it's a more sustainable and it's and certainly more typical than what we saw the double digits of the 2020 and 2021 and 2022. Things were prices were just uh rising rapidly, and again, and it's based on supply and demand. Not like the previous market uh bubble where prices, I mean, the the where the joke was if you could, you know, fog a mirror, if you could sign your name, if you were just willing to promise to pay the loan back, you know, that those the demand then was based on on really uh loans that were being given out to unqualified buyers. And so the the the demand that was happening was not in reality. Again, it was now the lending and the the loan criteria. Again, if you gotta have a job, you gotta show two years of tax returns of income. You you can't just promise to pay the loan back. You you know, buyers are qualified. If buyers are getting qualified for a loan now, and by the way, in the interest rates of the sixes and the sevens, buyers are qualified. It's not like we're seeing this massive wave of foreclosures. I mean, buyers that were qualified were qualified, and so it's not what it was before. And so now, granted, there's always cycles in the market, and and certainly you you hear the noise out there that you know the the market's gonna crash, but you know, there's always the pessimists, and and we're gonna just report what the data says and what the numbers say. The market, you know, really um, you know, it's it's not that of course there's been economic events, of course there's been um you know challenges. There's there was the pandemic. I mean, life happens and and we've seen the ebb and flow of the real estate market, but we know long term, you know, the long term real estate is one of the safest places to put your money in even if the market does take a downturn, if you can again, if you're gonna stay in your home, we also saw you know, certainly during 2010, 2011, 2012, when the market was at its worst, if you stayed in, you got the benefit of when it recovered, and and boy, did it recover. And so there's always this ebb and flow. But supply and demand ultimately is what it comes down to. And we have low inventory levels. We have a five-month supply of homes here in Henderson County, so still low inventory levels, which is why the prices are holding. Again, the it's truly Western North Carolina and Henderson County uh remains one of the more stable and desirable residential real estate markets. And and so, you know, it's interesting that there is the you know that that we have the um you know hurricane uh that's happening in in um in Jamaica, and and certainly what we experienced uh with with um what was going on here and and wow, I mean we talk about we talk about what what's happened you know with the environment and and maybe you've and we've and we've touched on this before, but I don't know if you've heard the term environmental refugee. You know, when we think of refugees, we think people leaving or fleeing the war or persecution or some type of you know political uh conflict, but you know, there's a lot of people that have been displaced not by conflict uh conflict but by climate. And and you we all have met so many people that moved here to Western North Carolina because of Katrina some 20 years ago. But you know, people that are displaced temporarily or permanently due to environmental disasters, you know, for example, the fires in California, the the fires in in Maui, uh in Hawaii, the it could be the rising flood waters, uh, it could be the the the even the lava flows on on the big island of Hawai of Hawaii, the the fires in California, the hurricanes that happened. So, you know, it's it's the the the thing is though, in Western North Carolina has certainly been a safer place compared to other other areas of the country. I mean, we have you know we've in we're in the Blue Ridge Mountains, we're in the Appalachian Mountains, you know, we typically, again, Helene happened, which you know extraordinary event, but because you know major hurricanes hit you know the coast first, you know, most of the time, you know, again, we're safe from from events like that. And also the we have a lower frequency of of tornadoes here. We also uh you know, we are we don't typically have the earthquakes. Again, our air it's not doesn't mean we're totally risk-free, but so many people come to the mountains to a safer place, and so we typically have fewer fewer events like that. So, you know, one of the again, this is a safe place. So many people have have moved here for the safety. And so, you know, it's this area, the environmental refugee. Again, you how many people have come here uh through for for some reason? And again, again, our thoughts and prayers are for those in Jamaica, but you know, the the the environment that we're in, again the the world that we live in, it's these events that are happening, um, and of course, there is the most beautiful stories that come out of disasters, the you know, where you know, people showing up, and the story really isn't about destruction. It's really about how the resilience of the community showing up, neighbors showing up for neighbors, volunteers rebuilding homes, uh, churches turning into shelters. You know, it's the it's the thing we can't stop the storms or the fires or the or the earthquakes, but we get to choose where we stand uh when they come. And the answer isn't always running from it, you know, but it's rebuilding and standing with our community. Um and it and certainly what we went through with Helene and seeing how our community came together, you know, our mountains have long been a refuge. You know, we have our cool climates, we do have stable seasons, four distinct seasons. You know, there's a lot of natural barriers, but you know, compared to some of the coastal and desert regions, you know, West North Carolina absolutely remains one of the more resilient and safer places to live in the southeast. And so we see so many people moving here, and again, maybe you have or haven't heard of an environmental refugee, um, but I think we're seeing more of it, and and people aren't running from political conflicts, they're running from not running, again, they're they're having not by choices of their own. And again, we saw how many, so many people started over here after Katrina, but but again, Helene certainly reminded us that safe doesn't mean untouchable. So again, Western North Carolina absolutely is a climate refuge, uh, and that's absolutely still valid. Uh, but again, we we move forward with caution, we move forward with gratitude, and we see how our community came together uh when our area has been a refuge, we faced our own challenges. And again, our thoughts and prayers are for those in Jamaica right now facing uh just a tremendous storm. And and again, we it's so fresh in our minds what we experienced here. You know, and and so the stories that we hear when we're helping people navigate through real estate and the reasons why they're moving here, or maybe it's a we've worked with five and six generation locals that have you know had incredible that have incredible stories that they've raised their families here, and it's been generations of enjoying here Western North Carolina and the community and the and the businesses they've built and serving the community. Again, it's amazing. It's a great, we're so grateful to call Henderson County and Western North Carolina home. You know, at the George Real Estate Group, we serve all of Western North Carolina and we serve the upstate as well. Uh, you can find us online at realestatebygreg.com. Uh and again, just thankful to serve the community through real estate. We're here every Monday morning sharing with you positive news about the real estate market and community. Uh, have some more information to share with you and stories to share after the break, but you're listening to the George Real Estate Group radio show here on the queue. Good morning. Again, welcome back. You're listening to the George Real Estate Group Live Radio broadcasts here on the queue. Again, so much to be thankful for. We've helped we've we've actually helped more people this year already than we did last year. We're growing. We have incredible staff, incredible agents. If you thought about a career in real estate, we'd love to have the conversation. It's in the market that we're in, the market's the market, and the economy is the economy, interest rates are the interest rates. We know real estate happens around life. Life happens, therefore, real estate happens, and it's a privilege and honor to help our clients navigate through whatever it might be. And we've we whether it's your personal home, whether it's an investment property, maybe you're working through planning ahead with your estate and your real estate and what you want for your kids and your grandkids. Um if you want to be strategic with capital gains taxes, if you want to be strategic with your your investment, real estate investments, if you want to be strategic with how you're planning ahead, your legacy, maybe you have land that's been in the family for years and you're looking at options. There, you know, just because we have a conversation doesn't mean you're you're obligated at all, and there's certainly no cost or obligation to have a conversation to get to get information uh about what your options are with real estate. We might have more options than you realize in regards to not paying or to deferring taxes. You know, there's ways to be strategic with your real estate, uh, whether it's raw land, whether it's uh commercial real estate, whether it's a you know investment property, even with your personal home, there are strategic ways to take advantage of what's allowed within the tax code. And we we you know, if you have a personal home, uh you do not pay capital gains in the first$250,000 as an individual. It's$500 for a married couple. You are even allowed to have two additional people on the deed. It could be your children, and so you actually collectively could have a million dollars of no capital gains on a on a primary residence. It could be uh a total of four people to$250,000 a piece. There are strategic ways there. And and also maybe you maybe you recently lost a spouse. I mean, incredible uh loss, which it is, and and the thing is though, uh when you're ready, having a a conversation about strategic if you're needing to sell, you it's you're you're by yourself, your spouse has passed. You may or may not realize this, but you have two years after your spouse's past to still take advantage of your your deceased spouse's$250,000. That can be life-changing in regards to getting yourself set up. Maybe you're moving into a retirement community, maybe you're having to start over and and use the equity in your home to start over. Again, there's some real honest conversations that we're having with our clients, and and again, the with compassion and with empathy and with just being giving information so you can decide what's right for you in these. It could be really delicate situations. And we've had uh the opportunity to sit down at the kitchen table with our clients, and it would uh and again it can be some really uh you know challenging situations, and and we can provide information and clarity and and help you think strategically about what's best for you, even in in the midst of the grief that you're facing. And and of course, they they they recommend not making any major decisions for an entire year uh in in in in regards to losing a loved one. I mean, again, the and then just life is still happening, and so we can provide information and clarity. We can we are a fiduciary, we're there to advocate, we're there to help you. And maybe the right thing is not to sell, maybe the right thing is to to to there's multiple options, and this words not just about uh please uh don't hear what I'm not saying, but it's it we're not saying you have you need to sell, we're not saying you have to buy. Again, any of this is just information, your unique situation, your unique home, and providing clarity about what's right for you to decide. And then, you know, maybe you're downsizing, maybe you're upsizing, maybe you're looking at you. There's so many scenarios, and and I I think we're getting close, if we've not passed it already, 1,600 families throughout the years. This is my 20th year of my North Carolina broker's license. And if if you're you're curious about the market, if you're curious about you know how to go about your your unique situation, there's no pressure, there's no cost, there's no obligation to have the conversation with us about your situation. And again, there's absolutely no pressure at all to to have the conversation. You know, I I heard uh you know, this is you I always I love history and I love learning uh life lessons from history, but uh you know, going back into the late 1800s, America was growing so fast, and cities were reaching higher, factories were churning, and progress seemed to mean one thing more, more steel, more weight, more material, and everything about modern life was was actually getting heavier. In in eighteen eighty seven, one man, Palmer S. Palmer, looked at all that more and saw something different. He believed strength didn't have to mean solid and it could mean smart. Palmer was a practical inventor. He was part engineer, part visionary, and he spent days mixing sand, cement, crushed rock, experim experimenting with what later we would call concrete. And so one day he tried something no one else thought made sense. I mean, he originally started out with these solid concrete blocks, which by the way, were heavy. A solid concrete block could actually weigh a hundred pounds or more, depending on the size, and that was that made construction slow, exhausting, labor intensive. I mean, there was only so many blocks that a worker could lift, you know, and these solid blocks required so much more raw material, and this is so interesting, you know. As he decided to to he tried something new, he actually removed part of it, he hollowed it out. Now that sounds simple and even foolish to some, but that's the moment everything changed because taking away material, Palmer made the block lighter, cheaper, and even stronger. Palmer invented what's called what we're familiar with the cinder block, which could be lifted by one man instead of two, and builders could stack more blocks in a day, walls could rise faster, higher, and safer. So you see, solid blocks were too heavy, they weighed over a hundred pounds, they slowed down construction, they wore out workers, and they cost too much to make. And those solid blocks, they were they didn't insulate well either. They trapped cold in the winter, heat in the winter heat in the summer, and they required more material, more time, more everything, and yet less efficient. So Palmer's hollow block changed it all. It used less cement, less sand, less labor, and it even made use of industrial waste, cinders, the ash left over from coal. And he turned what others threw away into something useful and strong. And when builders tested it, they realized something remarkable. Those air pockets didn't weaken the block, they made it better, they made buildings lighter and more flexible, they allowed space for rebar, for steel reinforcement, they even trapped air, making structures naturally insulated. So by removing what wasn't essential, Palmer didn't just make a lighter block, he laid the foundation literally for the modern world. Factories, schools, homes were built faster than ever before, and as cities rose, Palmer's hollowed block became the quiet symbol of progress. And you've seen them, the gray, plain, unassuming, the kind of thing most people walk right past without a second thought. But if you look closer, the cinder block tells a story, not of just innovation, but of wisdom. You know, because Palmer's innovation teaches us something about life too. You know, how many of us are carrying too much weight, too many commitments, too much noise, too much stuff. We fill every hour, every corner, every thought. Thinking more will make us stronger, but often it makes us heavier. And so Palmer showed us another way. He proved that removing what's not essential can make you stronger, more stable, more purposeful, and he found that subtraction, not addition, was the secret to endurance. And maybe that's the invitation for all of us. So what if your next level of strength isn't about doing more, but doing less? You know, focusing on what truly matters, letting the rest fall away. You know, whether it's in the architecture or in life, strength isn't in what you keep, it's in what you can let go of. So Palmer probably never imagined that his hollow cinder block would change how the world was built, but his idea, born born from simplicity, became one of the most enduring building materials in human history, and it's still used in nearly every structure you see today. And the message still holds up. The walls that last the longest aren't always solid. The ones built with wisdom, the kind that knows what to keep and what to remove. So maybe the next time you walk past that great block, cinder block, take a moment, run your hand along it. Remember that its strength isn't from what's there, it's from what's missing. And we see this a lot in real estate. Maybe you're looking to downsize, and it doesn't mean you're taking away from your life, you're making your life bigger, you're making a bigger life, you're creating a more uh sustainable life. And again, sometimes letting go of the the the unnecessary, again, simplifying your life so you can do more of what you want to do. And again, what a great lesson with the cinder block from the uh from the eighteen from eighteen eighty-seven when he first started out uh the cinder block invention. But again, taking away sometimes can make something better, and really less uh is more. You're listening to the George Real Estate Group live radio broadcast here in the queue. Of course, if you're thinking of buying, selling, or investing in real estate or a career in real estate, we'd love to have the conversation. Give us a call eight two eight three nine three zero one three four. Find us Online at realestatebygreg.com. Also, follow us on social media. We also podcast all of our radio shows. You can find that on your favorite podcast platform. But thank you so much for tuning in today. Have an awesome day. Stay out of the rain, and we'll see you next Monday. You've built a lifetime of strength, wisdom, and independence. And here's the best part: you still have it. Every decision, every step, every next chapter is yours to choose. Selling your home isn't about letting go, it's about opening the door to more freedom, more time for what you love, more energy for the people and passions that matter most. At the George Real Estate Group, we believe independence isn't behind you. It's right here, right now. Our team goes beyond buying and selling. We're here to help you protect your wealth, preserve your legacy, and make sure Uncle Sam doesn't become your biggest benefactor. We'll guide you every step of the way towards your next chapter, your next opportunity, and your freedom on your terms. Call us at 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestatebygreg.com.

SPEAKER_01:

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 realestatebygreg.com. The George Real Estate Group can be reached at 828-3930134 or stop by their office at 2720 Greenville Highway, Flat Rock, North Carolina. Tune in live each week on Monday mornings at 905 on WTZQ FM 95.3 and 1600 AM, or stream online at WTZQ.com.