Life Keeps Moving, So The Housing Market Does Too

A once-in-a-generation mortgage anomaly is fading, and the new reality is finally settling in: more Americans now hold rates above six percent than below three. We dig into what that subtle shift really means, why life events beat rate lock-in, and how a tight but functional market keeps prices firm in Western North Carolina.

We break down the Washington Post’s analysis and pair it with on-the-ground data from Henderson County: fewer than 500 active listings, roughly four months of supply, average days on market near sixty, and an 8 percent increase in single-family closings year over year. That balance explains why buyers have a bit more time to decide while sellers still command strong values. We talk practical strategy too—smart pricing, sharp presentation, pre-list inspections for sellers; buydowns, credits, and monthly-payment planning for buyers. If you’re staring down a move with a beloved low-rate mortgage, we outline options like renting out your current place, bridge financing, or sequencing sell-then-buy without chaos.

We also open the curtain on the business side. For agents and aspiring brokers, this is a professional’s market where consistent prospecting, clear communication, and a predictable process matter more than ever. Investors get a fresh lens on underwriting rentals, land, and small commercial amid higher rates, with a focus on resilient cash flow and realistic timelines. The throughline is simple: markets don’t stop for perfect conditions—people move because life moves. When you prepare early and act decisively, you can still win.

Ready to right-size, relocate, or invest with confidence? Subscribe, share the show with a friend who’s debating their next step, and leave a review to help others find us. Then call 828-393-0134 or visit realestatebygreg.com to start your plan.

Transcript

Welcome And Local Mission

SPEAKER_01 0:00

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, bringing you positive news about your local real estate market and community. So grateful to be here with you. Can you believe we're getting close to the middle of January? Where does time fly when you're having fun? And uh maybe you've recovered from the holidays and Christmas and uh you know New Year's and just so much to be grateful for and thankful for. And we are so busy and just it's amazing the conversations we continue to have with our clients and buyers and sellers and people thinking about you know what's next. Do we you know take advantage of what the market's doing? And we'll jump into that, what the what the market's doing and how that might impact your decisions. And ultimately, our goal is to provide clarity so you can have information to make a decision for rights what's right for you. The market's the market, the interest rates are the interest rates, the economy is the economy. Life happens, therefore, real estate happens. If you're tuning in for the first time ever, the George Real Estate Group, we're located in Flat Rock. We're welcome to the show. We're here every Monday, right after the 9 o'clock news, and grateful to be here with you. We are located in Flat Rock on Rainbow Row, next to our great friends at the Wrinkled Egg, uh, the Flat Rock Bakery, Hubba Hubba Barbecue, Hubba Loo, Campfire Grill, all those great local and independent restaurants and businesses. The George Real Estate Group is local and independent as well. We have an incredible group of agents and staff, and we're so enthusiastic, and it's a privilege and honor to help our clients navigate through real estate. And we this is my uh I've been doing this over 20 years now, I can say that. 21st year uh with my North Carolina broker's license. And I joke, you know, that I'm an overnight success that's taking 20 years of showing up every day, and we keep showing up every day, and it's a privilege to help our clients navigate through what's going on in the market. You can find us online at realistatebygreg.com. Realestatebygreg.com. Also encourage you to follow us on Facebook and Instagram, George Real Estate Group. You can see our new listings, you can see our open houses, you can see market information, and just connect with us. Uh, you can also follow us on our podcast. We podcast all of our radio shows, and we'd love to connect with you there. And we podcast uh and we've been podcasting now for a few years. Uh actually been I've done over sixteen hundred live radio broadcasts throughout the years, and grateful for the opportunity to share about what's going on and put some clarity on what's happening in the market and the data's the data, the market's the market, and we and we love sharing stories about what's going on. We love having guests on the show, and and we have a number of different guests planned uh ahead for this year. And if you have suggestions, always welcome suggestions for the radio program. You can reach out to our office, uh, you can reach out here to the queue if you have suggestions for the radio program and maybe topics you'd like to cover. And we try to again try to keep it fun, try to keep it educational, and and sometimes we we love telling some life stories and what's what's going on. Uh you can call us directly at 828-393-0134-828-3930134. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Stop by our office and say hello, and we'd love to connect with you. We serve all of West North Carolina and the upstate. So whether you're buying, selling, or investing in real estate, or even a career in real estate, uh, there's no pressure, there's no cost, there's no obligation for a uh not for a confidential consultation. If that's something you're looking for, it can be over the phone, it can be in person, it can be at our office, it can be at your home, it can be on a Zoom call, whatever is best for you. There was a recent article from the Washington Post that captures something subtle but important happening in the housing market right now. They analyze data from the national mortgage database, and here's the headline insight. For the first time since 2021, more Americans have mortgage rates above six percent than below three percent. That line alone tells you we've crossed a psychological line, not overnight, not dramatically, but decisively. And so the article explains really well, and the post makes an important point that often gets lost in the headlines. This didn't happen because people people suddenly chose higher rates. It didn't happen because time passed. According to the Federal Reserve data cited in the article, U.S. mortgage rates have been above six percent for more than three years, which means every purchase since 2022, every refinance that wasn't a COVID refi, every relocation mortgage came with a rate that would have sounded shocking just a few years ago. And the article basically says and and reminds us those two to three percent mortgages weren't normal, they were extraordinary, and now we're living in the hangover. So, one thing the Washington Post pushes back on, and I think it's important for listeners, is the idea that homeowners are perfectly locked in forever. Yes, rate lock-in is real. Yes, it's restricting our inventory, and you can see that, and we'll we'll talk about what our inventory is uh here, and we've seen this, but the article points out that even the best mortgage rate in the world doesn't freeze life. They specifically reference homeowners who did lock in incredible rates during COVID, and then as we've talked about on the radio program, they still had to move because of job relocations, a marriage, or a divorce, or growing families, or downsizing and retirement. We we talk about this. Real estate happens because life happens. Life happens, therefore real estate happens. And it's the article even point makes the point that many of these people didn't want to give up their rate, but circumstances left them no choice. And so there's a key distinction. This isn't a market driven by desire, it's driven by necessity. And here's where the Washington Post article really gets interesting. Even though there are more mortgages are even though there are more mortgages now above six percent, more than half of all outstanding mortgages are still below four percent. So we're still we're living in two housing markets at the same time. You know, the law a large group of homeowners who feel financially anchored and a grow and then number and then a second group growing who've already crossed the rate reset line. And the article quotes Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather, who says homeowners with rates under 5% are still highly resistant to selling, and this dynamic is likely to shape the housing market for another four to five years. So that's a long runway. That also, if you're concerned, this is this how the dynamic play how this dynamic if impacts our housing market the in in in plain English in plain English the takeaway the lock-in effect isn't gone, but it's weakening, not because rates are dropping, but because life keeps moving. You know, every year a few more low rate mortgages disappear, a few more people reset into today's market. Inventory enters forward instead of flooding back, and that's why our market feels tight but not frozen. It's active but cautious, it's frustrating but functional. So if you had or have a three percent mortgage, but life required a move, would you still go? Would you try to stay put at all costs? Because that's the exact tension we're experiencing. And so the the article, the Washington Post article isn't predicting a crash, it's it's not predicting a boom, it's describing a slow unwinding once-in-a-generation anomaly. The pandemic mortgage error isn't ending with a bang, it's fading with a long echo. And so buyers, sellers, and anyone thinking about a move in the next few years, understanding that shift and not fighting it is where clarity comes from. Our local market here continues to have strong demand. I've shared that we've had an 8 plus percent increase in the number of single-family homes sold in Henderson County last year compared to the previous year compared to the this past year. And our inventory levels are low. This is classic, you know, here we are, December, January, February, where our inventory levels are low. You have the classic, I'm gonna wait till the spring, or the perception, no one's buying in the winter, so I'm gonna take my house off the market. And yet our prices have been holding because of the supply and demand dynamic. I mean, as of this morning, only 489 active homes on the market. And so, back to what the article was saying, and what we've what we're experiencing with these lock-in rates is the people buying and selling are because they've made the decision because of life. It's it's not because these it's the again for three years we've had this six percent interest rate. But when someone's making a decision, the compelling reason, uh, whatever's going on in life is more compelling than the interest rate that they've been at. And it's more compelling than uh having a six percent interest rate. And if you look at history, the last 50 years of interest rates, six percent's the average. It's pretty normal. But we had this anomaly during the COVID years of these, you know, two and three and four percent interest rates. So, therefore, because of that lock-in, the amount of homes hitting the market, which is this is the dynamic. Everybody's curious. If and when are prices gonna come down, until we see the dynamic shift between inventory and demand, prices are gonna hold. In fact, as of this morning, over the last rolling 12 months, our average single-family home price in Henderson County is at$5.46 and change. That's up from the previous uh 12 months. And when you look at the demand, like I said, 8% increase of demand from the current 12 months from the previous 12 months. So when you factor in, still low inventory level, and you factor in the demand is increasing, in fact, that's why our prices are holding. It's it's it would take some dramatic uh flooding of the market of inventory for it to impact the prices. And so, you know, this it's such a fascinating position that we're in, and and it's the dynamic with the with with the interest rates, but again, this is a subtle but important piece of information for the first time since 2021. More homeowners now hold mortgage rates above six percent than below three percent. So it's it's it might seem surprising and even counterintuitive, but eventually the math catches up. And so this is where a lot of homeowners, you know, you you wonder how long they're gonna hold their hold on to this low interest rate, but until the dynamic and the compelling reason for selling it at some point life, uh this is part of the uh this quote I saw. Life has a way of loosening even the tightest grip. Isn't that a quote? People still move, jobs change, families grow or shrink, marriages begin, marriages end, retirement plans evolve, and then maybe it could be the the the pull of sunshine, people wanting to get we know classically a lot of people retire to to Florida. Uh and of course, then you have the the proximity to the grandkids. I mean, there's there's something that can be stronger than an interest rate. And so at some point, as these things pile up, more and more homeowners are leaving behind the low interest rate, and it is what it is. They're re-entering today's real estate market with where interest rates are now. And so, again, it's it's happening slowly, it's happening and and evolving, and that's where our market is somewhat normalizing. Although, with our at low inventory levels, less than 500 homes in the market, specifically in Henderson County, and with 130 plus homes a month selling, I mean, we have less than a four-month supply. So we are in a seller's market, albeit a little bit slower. I mean, the average days on market here is two months, 60 days. So buyers have a little bit more time to decide. Sellers are having to be a little bit more patient, and so with these interest rates where they are, it affects both the buyer and the seller, and that's why we're seeing it a little bit more normalized. It's stabilizing, it's it's fascinating. And and again, there's all these components, and we love studying the market, and ultimately we love providing information and clarity so our buyers and sellers can make a decision for what's right for them. It doesn't matter what time of year it is, it doesn't matter what the interest rates are, the it's just all these components, and it's a privilege and honor to help our clients navigate through you know the buying and selling process. We meet every day we're having conversations with our clients, and and maybe our clients, and this is normal where you have to a lot of people have to sell to buy. Now, some people might choose to buy, then sell. I mean, your specific situation, your specific home, your specific all these circumstances that are going on, we can help navigate and we can help set you up for success, and we can you know line up the dominoes, and we can ultimately advocate for you and facilitate how this might look like with your personal home. We're also actively helping our clients with their investment properties, and it could be rentals, it could be land, it could be commercial. I mean, we are helping our clients navigate through all types of real estate, and we love we love it. We are so grateful for the opportunity to serve our community through real estate, and you can call us directly at 828-393-0134. You can find us online at realestatebygreg.com. You can stop by our office there in Flat Rock. I joke, it's a dangerous place for an office with that bakery there and all those other restaurants. But stop in, say hello, call us directly, and again, just grateful to be here with you. We have a short break coming up. You're listening to the George Real Estate Group live radio broadcast here in the queue every Monday morning. We have more things to share with you this morning, so stay tuned in. And of course, you can follow us on our podcast. You can also follow us on social media. We'd love to connect with you, but stay tuned in. We'll be right back. Good morning and welcome back. You're listening to the George Real Estate Group live radio broadcast here in the queue every Monday morning, and grateful to be sharing with you about what's going on in the market. If you're tuning in for the first time ever, the George Real Estate Group's located in Flat Rock and we serve Western North Carolina. By the way, if you're ever thinking about a career in real estate, we just hired another real estate broker and we would love to have the conversation. Maybe where you're currently at might not be supporting you and what you're looking to do. And we've launched many careers. We've also helped agents maintain a high level of production. And so whether it's something you're looking to get into for the first time, or maybe you've been in it and looking for something different, we'd love to have a confidential conversation with you about the real estate career, what it might look like. Maybe you're coming from another uh professional career and something that's real estate's always interested you. You know, I I do say, you know, the opportunity and and and your income and the ability to to make a living with real estate, you know, it's it's because it is, just everybody, I think I don't want to assume, but everybody I think understands this commission is is not uh hourly or salary. It's it's your income is in direct proportion to your efforts, and it's it's tied to uh you know getting paid if you can help the client accomplish what their dreams and goals are. So your income is commission based and based on your ability to solve problems and and bring things to the to the closing table, and there's you know months and months of effort that that can occur before you land the plane per se. I heard a funny story of someone that was they went to college actually for real estate, and they had a college degree for real estate, and this is a long time ago, some decades ago, and they they went around interviewing for you know a job and they just couldn't believe how everybody was was hiring. And and and at one point uh the the the young man with his real estate license, you know, asked uh the the career the he asked the person hiring, he's like, Well, how much uh are you paying? And and he was to his surprise, and he didn't realize this, which you can I find this fascinating. He had a career, or he had a College degree in real estate, but I guess they never talked about the the the the fine the the income side of it. It was about real estate, which is funny to me. But he was shocked to hear the manager say, Well, how much do you want to make? And and uh and and the young man said, Well, and this is again, I think in the in their 80s, and he's like, Well, I'd love to make you know 20,000, 25,000 a year. He thought he'd be thrilled with it. And and he said, Well, good luck. He didn't realize it was commission-based, and and he went on to be one of the most successful real estate agents in the in the whole world, actually. This this gentleman that shared this story about his launching of you know getting into the real estate industry. But you know, a lot of people don't realize, again, some people do, some people don't, but you know, the your ability to make a living, your income and real estate is in direct proportion to your efforts. But it's one thing to be, you could be, quote unquote, the best real estate agent ever, and you can know how to write the contracts, you can know how to list the home, you can know how to negotiate and all these things. But guess what? Your first job as a real estate agent is actually finding clients. This is no different than a small business owner. You could be the best electrician ever, you could be the best plumber ever, you could be the best. This is good, you could be an attorney, you could be um, you know, whatever you are offering service-wise, I mean, you could be the best accountant, but if you are not able to get clients, I mean, any small business owner, uh it could be a contractor, it could be again, any of these business owners, you could be the best mechanic, but if you're not able to find and bring in clients, you're you you could be the best at whatever you do, but you're not going to be successful or make a living doing it now. You know, and so in real estate, your first job actually is to to find clients, just like again, a s uh any other small business. If you can't find clients, you could be the best at whatever you do. But again, that's that's really any small business's first job is to find clients. And and again, if you you can't do that, and again, those are the nuances of working for yourself. And and and if you've ever heard of the cash flow quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki. He wrote a book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad. If you're looking for a book recommendation, highly recommend it. There's this conversation about cash flow quadrants, and and you know, one of the you know ways you can make a living is you can trade time for money. You can go get a job and be an employee and work for somebody, and you you get paid for showing up and accomplishing that task. That's a that's an you can be an employee to make money. Uh, you can also make money by being a business owner where you have employees and they're helping you make money, and that's a a business owner. Then there's another category uh where uh you can be an investor and you're you can invest in and make money there. There's an and then there's a fourth one called self-employed. You can work for yourself, but you know, there's these four cash flow quadrants of different ways, and by the way, you can have all four of those working for you. One where your money's making money for you, then there's where your skills are making money for you, and then you can be an employee and you're you're trading time and you're working for someone else, and that's uh you can make money by being an employee, and then you can make money by owning a business. There, and then you can have all four of those working for you to make money, but these are conversations again. If I I sort of went down the rabbit hole and and a rabbit trail where again careers, right? If young people thinking about getting into business for themselves, there's and whether no matter what kind of small business that you're launching or starting, it's there's this holding your breath period where it's that's probably one of the biggest challenges for most people, whether you're starting a uh contracting business, whether you're starting a uh a services business or a any new business, it's that holding your breath long enough to get cash flow going and getting clients, and that's where a lot of real estate agents, it's it's it is a huge step of faith. It's a huge bet on yourself where you can you're gonna bet on yourself with your real estate license, but you there's this period of time of of runway of holding your breath long enough to to create get clients and to help clients ultimately if they want to buy or sell, and there's this runway. And so we are at the George Real Estate Group, we've helped launch so many real estate agents, start their careers, uh, improve their careers. Uh maybe you've been a part-time agent working another job and looking to transition to full-time. And so, you know, I do think so many real estate agents are are getting ready to get ready to get ready, and and this is just a psychological piece of it, but at the George Real Estate Group, helping our agents, which ultimately help our clients, and so our agents with the people they know and the relationships they have, uh, they combined with our experience at the George Real Estate Group and the knowledge and the systems and proven and predictable processes that we follow that ultimately serve our clients at the highest level possible. And it's helping our clients ultimately accomplish their goals, but the partnership we have with our real estate agents to help them help them while they're helping their clients in this partnership and you know, non-traditional in the sense that most real estate companies, you know, uh individual agents or individual agents, and then at the George Real Estate Group, we take this more from a team approach from the support we have with our staff to the support we have with our leadership, and then ultimately serving our clients through service and humility and enthusiasm too. And again, it's a proven and predictable process that we have. And we'd love to interview for the job if you're thinking about a career. We'd love to interview for the job if you're thinking about buying or selling a personal home or buying and selling your investment properties or thinking about getting into real estate investments, or maybe you're looking at what the next phase is. Maybe you've spent a lifetime of building up your real estate portfolio and what the next phase might look like and working with your estate planning. And we work with closely with financial advisors and tax strategists and attorneys that we have a team in place that we can help navigate your situation. So it's uh we love helping our clients, we love serving the community, we love studying the market, and we love you know understanding how we can help whatever your situation is, and it could be you know real estate, it could be a career in real estate, you know, whatever it might be. But I the I love the information that I shared this morning earlier about the the market and again just uh how this is impacting. I mean, I know you're uh there's a lot of concern about you know what's gonna happen in the real estate market, but I think we're gonna continue to see things stabilize. Here locally, we have low inventory levels. We've had increased demand, prices are holding, but again, fascinating. Again, I shared if you want to go back and you didn't hear this first part of the show, you can follow us. We'll have this up on our podcast. You can listen to the first half of the show. It's a fascinating article by the Washington Post from the National Mortgage Database. More Americans have mortgage rates above 6% than below 3% for the first time since 2021. Again, fascinating. We talked about it in the first half of the show. Follow us on our podcast. We'll have this up here. You can hear more about that. But our prices are holding. In fact, they're up slightly this in the last 12 months versus the previous 12 months. But the big news here, I think, in Henderson County is we've had an 8% increase. And I know I focus on Henderson County, but we serve and study Bunkham County, Transylvania County, Polk County, Haywood County, Rutherford County, uh, and the upstate. So if we can help you in any way, give us a call, 828-393-0134. You can find us online at realestatebygreg.com. Follow us on our podcast, follow us on social media, stop by our office and say hello. But again, call us directly at 828-393-0134. Have a wonderful day, have a wonderful week, and we'll be here next Monday.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

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 828-393-0134 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.

SPEAKER_01 29:26

Maybe the house feels a little too big these days. The stairs a little steeper. The pace of life a little too fast. But what if your next move wasn't about letting go? It was about making space for peace, for freedom, for what matters most. At the George Real Estate Group, we understand that real estate isn't just about the house. It's about transitions, timing, and trust. We've helped thousands of families in Western North Carolina make smart, thoughtful moves. Closer to nature, closer to family, closer to home. So when you're ready to right-size, simplify, or start fresh, we'll be here. The George Real Estate Group. Local, trusted, proven. Call us today, 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestatebygreg.com because your next chapter deserves to feel just right.