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A Look Back on August to See How High Country Real Estate Looked for This Year

By  Raegen Elrod, REALTOR, Blue Ridge Realty & Investments, LLC

While we still have a little bit to go before the official start of Autumn, with school back in session, Labor Day behind us and pumpkin spice everywhere the unofficial start to Fall is here. But, before we fully fall into Fall, let’s take a brief look back on August to see how High Country Real Estate looked for the eighth month of the year.

August saw 237 closed single family sales in the High Country Association of REALTORS Multiple Listing Service. Of those 237 sales, 210 were in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties, the area we look at most closely when analyzing High Country Real Estate. Of those 210, 55 were condos or townhomes and 155 were single family detached. 

List prices ranged from a minimum of $75,000 to a maximum of $5,900,000 with an average List Price of $664,657 and a median List Price of $479,000.  Sold prices went from a minimum of $75,000 to a maximum of $5,800,000 with an average Sold Price of $643,269 and a median Sold Price of $469,500. 

Minimum Bedroom and Bath count was 0/1 and the maximum was 5/8 with the average being 3/3 and median being 3/2. The minimum HLA was 0, the maximum HLA was 6699 and average heated living area was 1853. With condos and townhomes in the mix, of course minimum acres was 0, but maximum was 57.52, average acreage was 1.92 and median was .53 acres. 

The average Sales Price to List Price ratio was 97% and the median was 97%. The average days on market was 76 and the median days on market was 66. 

By comparison, August 2023 saw 229 closed sales in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties. List prices ranged from a minimum of $80,000 to a maximum of $3,990,000 with an average List Price of $589,749 and a median List Price of $475,000.  Sold prices went from a minimum of $62,000 to a maximum of $3,890,000 with an average Sold Price of $567,656 and a median Sold Price of $453,000.

The average Sales Price to List Price ratio was 97% and the median was 97%. The average days on market was 71 and the median days on market was 54. 

While there were more closed sales in August 2023 than in August 2024, overall August 2024 was a better month for real state in the High Country than last year. The average List Price was up 12.7% and the average Sold Price was up over 13%. Median List Price and median Sold Price were both up in 2024 over 2023. The only negatives were small; Days on Market average went from 71 in August 2023 to 76 in August 2024 but SP/LP ratio remained steady at 97%.

It’s a great time to be a property owner in the High Country and these statistics are proof.