What Henderson County Numbers Reveal About Home Prices

The real estate headlines can’t agree, but your local market still has to make sense for your life. We zoom in on the one metric that explains most of the noise: inventory. When buyers have more options, sellers compete. When inventory stays tight, prices hold up even when interest rates and the broader economy feel uncertain. That local lens matters in Western North Carolina, where neighborhood, county, and price point can change the outcome fast.

We also share a clear snapshot of Henderson County: new listings rise roughly 4% through the end of May while pending sales climb close to 12%, a sign that demand is still draining inventory faster than it’s being replaced. We talk median and average pricing (about $430K median year to date and roughly $501K average when condos and townhomes are included), list-to-sale hovering near 94%, and days on market around 73. If you’re planning a sale, we explain why pricing strategy and honest comps matter more than ever.

Then we pivot to a topic every homeowner is feeling: renovations. With the median US home now around 44 years old, more spending goes to unglamorous but value-protecting work like roofs, HVAC, plumbing, and crawl space issues. We dig into buyer psychology, curb appeal, and the surprising ROI list, including garage door and entry door replacements. We also talk trends like defined spaces after work from home and why flipping homes is tougher with today’s rates and material costs.

If you’re buying, selling, investing, or planning a renovation in Hendersonville and Western North Carolina, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave us a quick review so more locals can find the show.

Transcript

Welcome And How We Help

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 on the queue every Monday morning, bringing you positive news about your real estate market and community. We're so grateful to be here with you. What a beautiful day it is. Can you believe we are at the end of June? Time flies when you're having fun. And just again, so grateful. What a month it's already been. And we're so excited. And again, every day, just so much to be grateful for and thankful for. And uh we're continuing to serve our clients, to advocate for them, to learn and to listen and to understand what their goals and dreams and and desires are in regards to how they want their life to look. And real estate certainly plays a part in that. You know, the the market is the market, the economy is economy, interest rates are the interest rates, and yet, you know, there's just so much uh going on in the in the world, of course, and yet real estate's such a personal decision, whether it's your personal home, it could be your family uh inheritance or family estate or land that's been in the the family for three and four generations. It could be your investment property, it could be your rental properties, it could be your real estate portfolio. I mean, we we deal from the in in help uh when I say deal, we we facilitate whether it's uh you know the the the the quarter acre lot you know for you know thirty, forty thousand dollars to the multi multi-million dollar portfolio, you know, from the small lot to the the multi-unit portfolio to uh everything in between, again, residential and commercial, you know, we're just grateful to navigate, advocate, facilitate you know, our clients, you know, whatever is going on in their life. It could be a really positive reason why you're buying or selling. It could be a challenging reason and the empathy that we have and understanding for our clients. And and maybe you know, it's it's not a decision you're wanting to have to make or or just but maybe you've hit uh you know some road bumps that you're having to make some changes or decisions that maybe you don't want to, but you know, ultimately, again, if there's that saying sometimes things are painful but necessary, and and those are those tough conversations. And then again, there's uh there's these other situations where it's a celebration and it's a it's a beautiful thing and and it's exactly what you wanted and dreamed about doing. And we again, the gamut, you you you you can uh you the gamut spreads from again both sides of the coin, and again, it's a privilege and honor to help our clients navigate through you know real estate. You know, if you're tuning in for the first time ever, the George Real Estate Group's located in Flat Rock. We serve all of Western North Carolina and the upstate, from residential to commercial to specializing in 1031 exchanges and and we have access to replacement properties if that's something that you're struggling to consider. Sometimes some of our clients don't even uh won't even talk about selling until we talk about the replacement properties that we have accessibility to. And there's just solutions and and from again your personal home to your uh investment or land that you have. Again, whatever the situation is, we take it from a consultative approach and advocating and facilitating. So if we can help you in any way, give us a call 828-393-0134. 828-3930134. Find us online at realestatebygreg.com. We also have our website for our radio shows, George Realestate Group Radio.com. You can follow us on our podcasts. We podcast all of our radio shows. Uh, you can see our blog there and and again, glad to connect. Social media, Facebook and Instagram. We'd love to connect with you there. We post uh all the things happening from our new listings to the homes going under contract to the homes closed to open houses. We'd and we've been having a lot of open houses in the you know, the the the market, again, the market's the market, and yet uh we know uh it's really uh again what's going on in your life that drives what's going on.

Why Inventory Moves Prices

SPEAKER_01 4:35

And of course, there's a lot of news out there that you know home prices are are co cooling off. And uh, you know, nationally, I will say that nationally, but you know, it's the individual markets across the country that, you know, the picture can look completely different depending on where you are. There's some areas like ours that are that are holding steady uh you know, in that sense. There's some areas in the country that are actually still experiencing you know prices going up. Uh some areas of the country where you're seeing home prices drop uh slightly, and then some in some cases even more dramatically, and and it really comes down to one primary thing. It's it's all about the inventory. And and then from a very simple version, are you know, are there more homes for sale uh than there are buyer demands? I mean, when when there are more homes for sale, of course the buyers have options. Uh, if there's more options, that means less competition among sellers, less competition among sellers and more choices from buyers mean sellers can't push prices as high and have to be more competitive with their pricing. And frankly, and actually on the other side of the coin, when the inventory level, the homes available are tight, buyers are competing over a smaller home, uh pool of homes, and that's what pushes prices up. And so that dynamic and is really what's playing out across the country. But again, it's it's neighborhood to neighborhood, it's it's price range to price range, it's county to county, and we're really seeing this happen all across the country. And some markets, you know, where the inventory levels have climbed up above pre-pandemic levels, that's where uh home prices are flattening or even falling. And then some of the markets where inventory is still well below those 2019 levels, uh, that's where prices are rising. And uh the CEO of Resi Club, uh Lance Lambert said this home prices are still climbing a little year over year in many regions where active inventory remains well below pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Such pockets of the Northeast and the Midwest. In contrast, some areas and in some pockets in states like Texas, Florida, Colorado, where the act to active inventory levels exceed pre-pandemic 2019 levels by a solid clip, are seeing the modest home price pullbacks or even price flattening. You know, inventory across the country, again, in in a lot of states are are below where they were back then, and that's why the prices are still climbing. And and they're modestly climbing, but this is just interesting. Um this is just interesting where the the markets across the country, some areas uh in some states are back above the pre-pandemic levels. And this is again, this is here's the thing, bottom line, again, it's the it it's where you're shopping across the country. It's it's a real estate's a very local business. And so some states, some buyers have more negotiating power than others. In other states, it's the opposite. Sellers, no matter what, pricing, the pricing strategy is everything. And again, your specific price range, your specific location, and that's where working with a professional to have a uh just an honest conversation, and maybe not what you want to hear, but again, what is the truth about the market? What's the truth about the stats? And you know, so it's uh you know, and here's the thing about pricing it's more important than ever to price, it's more important ever to get to have a consultation, to understand the dynamic, to understand the inventory in your specific location, in your specific price range and area.

Henderson County Market Snapshot

SPEAKER_01 8:48

I mean, frankly, over the last, and this is through the end of May, and obviously we're coming up to the end of June, but in the end of May in Henderson County alone, there was almost a 4% increase in new listings uh compared to the same time frame last year. Uh, almost a 12%. This is where it gets really interesting. The pending sales through the end of May in Henderson County, almost a 12% increase compared uh you know to the new inventory. So demand is actually outpacing the new inventory coming in. I've mentioned this maybe visual for you to uh to consider is the bathtub, right? You have your drain, you have your inflow of water, and then the amount of water being held in the bathtub, the level, the water level, right? The inventory of homes is similar to the water levels. The the water flowing in is similar, is uh you know, is the visual of the new homes coming in to the market, and then the homes closing, the homes coming off the market, the homes selling is that drain. And so right now, right now there's there's more homes coming off the market through going under contract and and selling than then it's being replaced. And that's why our prices are holding. Uh our prices are are holding. The the median sales price year to date is at 430. The average sales price, now this is including condos and townhomes and land uh is at five, not land, condos and townhomes and single-family homes. The average single family home price through the end of May, uh, including all of them, is at 501. If now, if you just look at single family homes, we're in the 540s, but it when you factor in condos and townhomes, we're at 501. I will say another piece of information that's so fascinating is the list to sales price ratio of the percentage of the original list price received once it closed. We're we're at about 94% of the original list price, down the 94%. Days on market until the sale, uh, were up almost 20%. 73 days is the average days on the market. That number has been going up. That's 20% higher than during the last time frame, same time frame last year. And and again, this is this data is helpful, but your unique home, your unique situation, your unique could be your unique land that your family owns. This is where we take it from a holistic approach. Whether maybe you're selling and then buying and moving into a different home. Maybe you're buying first and then you want to sell. Maybe it's uh again, family land that you've inherited and it's been in the family for generations, and you're trying to decide what's right for you and your siblings that own this

1031 Exchanges And Tax Options

SPEAKER_01 11:37

property together. We have tax strategies and tax solutions and uh real estate you know solutions that might be worth hearing and understanding. We've touched on them over the the years here, just talking about different strategies. It could be a 1031 exchange where you can defer the taxes and and we have access to replacement properties that it's mailbox money. It's it's uh institutional level real estate where you can you can buy in and and replace the property. And and in some cases, it's been uh you know, from an income standpoint, if it's your investment properties, it's worth comparing uh the return on these properties, and also it's it's mailbox money in the sense that you're not managing them, you're not having to maintain them, you're not dealing with the tenants or the taxes or the toilets, right? There are some solutions that are worth considering that we have uh access to that you we can share with you about and and again defer taxes. There's things that are that can help with your estate planning, you know, whether it's your personal home or investment property. Again, we'd love to have the conversation with you and just see if we can help and and have a candid conversation and explore you know what your options are. And so uh we'd love to have that conversation. Uh you can call us directly at 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestate by greg.com. Uh we're gonna be talking, I think it's I found some fascinating statistics about uh you know the renovation market and uh you know renovating your own home, maintaining your home and in the remodeling industry. This is uh some fascinating trends, uh, even some uh some data about house flipping, if it's worth it or not, you know, what things are worth improving. You know, the this is a fascinating statistic. The median US home is a record 44 years old. And so this is a funny statement. Uh, you know, the the typical house was built before the first ever blockbuster, and and this is according to a recent study by Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. And so, you know, and with new construction struggling to keep up with demand houses are just getting even older, and that this is where this conversation about renovations and so the the conversation with aging homes, and I think it's gonna be a fascinating conversation we're gonna talk here after the break. Uh just some fun stats that I that I discovered and and have been looking at. But you know, over the last 12 months, just to give you a little bit more stats about what's happening here locally in Henderson County, you know, the the average uh single-family home price for uh single-family home in Henderson County is at $543. Over the last 12 months in Henderson County, we're averaging 136 homes a month selling. Uh there's only 619 active homes on the market. 613 active homes on the market. The average available home price in Henderson County right now of those 613 is at eight eighteen for average available home price. So those are our numbers, and we're having fun, and we're just a lot to be thankful for and grateful for here on this Monday morning here in the queue. We're here every Monday morning right after the 9 o'clock hour. If you're listening to us on our podcast, thank you for joining us. We podcast all of our live radio shows. You can find it on your favorite podcast platform. And we're we're actually, if if I don't think we've passed it yet, we're we're on the edge of passing over 20,000 downloads on our podcast, which is pretty cool. You know, just grateful uh to be here. So you're listening to the George Real Estate Group Live Radio Broadcast here in the queue. Stay tuned in. We have a short break and we'll be right back.

Renovation Reality For Aging Homes

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Good morning and welcome back. What a beautiful Monday morning it is. Uh, it's the last Monday of June, if you can believe it. Fourth of July is around the corner this this Saturday, actually. Wow. Time flies when you're having fun. It's gonna be uh uh just a lot of fun. I I know we're looking forward to the fireworks and all the things, and and uh again, a lot to be thankful for. And just hopefully you can spend some time with your family and friends on this on this 4th of July. If you're tuning in for the first time ever, the George Real Estate Group's located in Flat Rock. We serve all of Western North Carolina and the upstate, from residential to commercial to land to 1031 exchanges. We'd love to have the conversation. And there's no pressure, there's no cost, there's no obligation. Again, if you're tuning in on the podcast, thank you for joining us on the podcast. Share it with your friends and family. It's uh we try to have a lot of fun here and hopefully helpful information. And and today we've been certainly focusing on more real estate and in uh over the years just having different guests, whether it's our nonprofit friends or if it's our other local businesses and and other people in the industry, and conversations from you know, you know, tax strategies and 1031 exchanges to our lawyers that we work with and attorneys and in estate planning and our home inspectors and you know, pests and radon and basements, you name it, right? We we love having these conversations and hopefully helpful for you as you navigate through you know real estate. And this is where I th this is gonna be fun. Uh just some facts and stories that I've been uh picking up on and this was a recent article. I love subscribing and reading the Morning Brew newsletter, and and this weekend they had a great uh newsletter about home renovations and the aging s housing stock and and just some fascinating, fascinating pieces of information. And so you know, a lot of our homes, uh like across the country, have so much character, but you know, character often comes you know with maintenance. And then you know, the this is where there's so many other pieces of the conversation where you know buyers they may love the kitchen, but then they're looking at what the roof, the HVAC, the windows, the crawl space, the other conditions, and and sometimes you know, the best uh improvements are not always the flashiest. The the highest value projects are ones that can can create confidence with with your for yourself and so for your for your uh resale value. And you know, this a seller might want to spend money on countertops that the buyer may actually care more about the age of the roof or the HVAC. So all these things, right? So I mean like the the the housing market in in and with the renovations, every homeowner, buyer and seller and investors, you know, is in you know they're they're this is just a common conversation, home renovations. And the Morning Brew newsletter recently put out a special edition on the state of renovations, and it really hit on something we're seeing every day in real estate. The the homes are getting older, repairs are getting more expensive, homeowners are having to make tougher decisions about where to spend money. And you know, like I mentioned earlier, the median home in America is about 44 years old, and so that means the typical home was built in the early 80s. And in western North Carolina, we know this story, and then we have incredible, beautiful older homes, historic homes. We also have our mountain cabins, the ranches, the split levels, the farmhouses, and and of course the historic properties. Then they have character, but also with character comes maintenance, and that's the first big point,

Maintenance First Then Style

SPEAKER_01 19:29

right? Not every renovation is fun. You know, sometimes we think of renovations as new countertops, the pretty tile, the lighting, the paint colors, or opening up a living room. But a lot of today's renovation spending is going towards very the unglamorous. We call it the adult, making the adult decision, right the roof, the HVAC systems. Did you think you'd be spending money on a septic system or plumbing or electrical, right? These the the the the unglamorous things that you know structural repairs, and then then of course these projects might not be exciting, but they matter. And in fact, when we walk through homes with buyers, these are often the things they they ask questions about and notice first, and of course they they're gonna love the kitchen, but if the roof is old or if the HVAC system's 20 years old, if there's water in the crawl space, the buyer's does the math very quickly. And while we're talking about math, as a seller, if you're about to go in the market, usually it's less expensive for you to go ahead and address some of these big issues. Not always necessary, but buyers tend to overestimate what things cost. And as a seller, if you can address it at the you know, correctly, have a professional do it, and and again, the cost that a buyer's gonna think is gonna think usually two or three times what it actually might cost just to do it right the first time. And so for so here's the thing, for homeowners you know, thinking about the resale, the question is not simply what's what's gonna make my house prettier, you know, what and and you hear this you know, lipstick, what it what kind of lipstick are you doing? But the better question is what's gonna give the next buyer, the buyer of mine home, the the most confidence.

Highest ROI Upgrades That Sell

SPEAKER_01 21:28

And this is where you know the the the second point is some improvements actually pay off better than others, and and there's some some fun stats about that that number, right? Some some improvements actually pay off better than others. And this is so interesting. According to this recent news article by the Morning Brew, some of the strongest returns nationally, you might be surprised to hear are like garage doors doors. Garage doors interest. Tree doors. Uh, maybe a stone manufactured stone veneer, cement side uh fiber cement siding and minor kitchen remodels. And that's that makes sense because those items do a few things at once. They not only do they improve the curb appeal, they make the home feel well maintained and create that f strong first impression. I mean, here's some actual numbers, and and this is cited from Zillow's list of home improvements uh from the best return on investments. Did you know a garage door replacement has a 349% return on investment according to Zillow's research? Entry door replacement, a 216 return on investment. Manufactured stone veneer, a 208% return on investment. Fiber cement siding, 114% ROI. The minor kitchen remodel, 113%. Curb appeal and first impression still matter. Buyers, these these type of improvements, like doors, sliding, uh, you know, siding, garage doors, exterior finishes, influence how a buyer feels before they walk inside. And of course, there's some things you might be thinking of doing that that don't um help. Actually, there can be some negative returns. You know, this is the thing.

Buyer Bias And Overcustomizing Risks

SPEAKER_01 23:41

Buyers start judging a home before they ever walk in. We actually talk about this all the time. Decision bias. Buyers, whether they're aware of it or not, subconsciously, or maybe consciously, but subconsciously for sure, decide within the first few seconds if they love the home or not. And in fact, if they have a bias that they love the home, they're gonna actually, their mind actually subconsciously blocks out the negatives. They might even see the negatives and ignore the negatives because they love the home so much. And of course, if they decide up front that they don't like the home, it doesn't matter what you've done to the house. If the client and the buyer has decided whether consciously or subconsciously they don't like the home, it doesn't matter what you've done. You can't, we this is where I tell people all the time we're not, we can't sell anything. We're facilitating. Buyers have made the decision, most likely unconsciously, whether they like it or not. And no amount of features and no amount of negatives, again, if the person decides they like it, they like it. And if they don't like it, it doesn't matter what you point out. And that's why necessarily uh you know, some sellers insist on agents accompanying the showing, and that's a whole nother conversation. But again, buyers make up their mind. And so this is all about this is where again that that clean, well-maintained exterior creates trust for the buyer, and that's where that trust, the buyer's perceived trust of the homeowner can create a large part of the value. And now on the other side, I've mentioned not every upgrade returns dollar for dollar. Swimming pools, ultra custom finishes, beautiful but unusual wallpaper, overly specific design choices, maybe even marble everywhere, a renovation that fits your specific taste, but the broader market may not help as much as people, it may not help as much as people expect. And so, and it doesn't mean you shouldn't do these things for yourself. It's your home, you enjoy it, make it your own. But if you're doing it in regards to renovating for resale, you might want to separate your personal enjoyment from the market value, and of course, renovate for how you live, but you invest for how the market thinks. And this is where these trends,

Remodeling Trends After Work From Home

SPEAKER_01 26:04

right? The trends, there's so many trends going on right now nationally. The the guest bathrooms are getting more attention, less gray colors, more natural earth tones, smart home features, wellness spaces, better air filtration, more natural materials, and a shift away from wide open floor plans. And that's interesting, right? For years, everyone wanted that wide open concept, knock down the walls, open the kitchen, connect everything. But you know, it's interesting. After COVID and the rise of work from home, a lot of people started wanting more defined spaces. They wanted an office, they wanted a quiet room, a flex space, a guest room, or somewhere where the kids can be while someone else is working. And so, you know, we had so many people relocate here. We shared this. People moved their dreams forward here. Certainly during COVID, they didn't want to wait to retire to move here. People, so many people relocated here. People brought their jobs, people moved here for lifestyle, for quality of life, and they wanted space, they wanted the privacy, the views, the natural light, the you know, the quality and again, all these things at home can provide. But these things about flipping homes and renovations, right?

Why House Flips Flop Now

SPEAKER_01 27:22

You know, flipping's not what it used to be. I mean, higher mortgage rates, the higher home prices, the the tighter inventory, and the and here's the other big factor. The the higher material costs have made the math harder. And so what we're and this is what we tell investors locally, you can you actually make your money when you buy, when you buy right, not when you sell. If the purchase price is too high, the renovation budget is usually too optimistic. The carrying costs are often ignored, and the resale value is based on hope instead of comparable sales and the flip can turn into a flop. And the best investors though are disciplined. It's a numbers game, it's not emotions. They know their numbers, they know their real renovation costs, they build in the margin for surprises. And guess what? In older homes, there's always surprises. And here's the thing though, but let's go back to our homeowners.

Practical Renovation Rules Of Thumb

SPEAKER_01 28:25

What what are some practical takeaways? Always, number one, maintain first, decorate second. A buyer will forgive dated uh paint faster than they will forgive a failing roof or a bad HVC VAC, right? HVAC. Let me say that again. A buyer will forgive dated paint faster than they'll forgive a failed roof or an old HVAC. Also, number two, focus on curb appeal, the doors, the landscaping, the pressure washing. That people feel when a home is cared and loved and taken care of. And and again, that first impression, the you can tell when a home's been maintained. And then, of course, avoid over customizing. It's the re if if you're especially if a resale's in your future, and of course, your taste may be beautiful and it's just what you want, but the broader market may not value it the same way. It's your home, you get to do what you want with it. But again, doing this for yourself versus having a resale in mind are very different. And of course, document your improvements, keep the receipts, the permits, the warranties, the contract information, the before and after. And when it comes time to sell, that documentation helps tell the story. Also, if you're thinking about a major renovation, talk to a real estate professional, give the George Real Estate Group a call. You know, especially if you're thinking about selling in the next few years, whether it's three or even five years. The thing is, a $50,000 project today may feel like it should add $50,000 in value, but the market doesn't always work that way. And that's where the heart of it, right? The renovation today is not just about making the home pretty, it's about protecting your value, your investment, creating confidence, doing this for yourself while improving livability and just being smart with your dollars. And so here in Western North Carolina, Western North Carolina, we have a lot of older homes, a lot of unique properties, and of course, buyers care about condition, and that's where homes can really shine and stand out, and uh especially among the other inventory. So whether you're buying, selling, investing, or staying put, the question is what improvements are gonna make the home safer, more functional, more attractive for your own enjoyment. And then if and at some point life happens, and maybe you never thought you were gonna sell, but you know, taking those things into consideration and how does the home more and valuable for the next person? And that's where renovation can become more than just a project, it is it's a strategy. We love sharing these stories and information about the real estate market and the industry.

Questions And How To Reach Us

SPEAKER_01 31:10

And if you if you have questions or thoughts or even suggestions for topics for our radio show and podcasts, we'd love to hear them. Of course, if you're thinking of buying, selling, or investing in real estate, give us a call, 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestatebygreg.com. We love being here with you, sharing time on your Monday morning. I hope you're off to a great start. Have a great day, have a great week, and we'll see you next Monday.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

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 and 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 WTCQ.com.

Rise Size Message And Sign Off

SPEAKER_00 32:30

Maybe the house feels a little too big these days.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

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 rise-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.