May Stats – What the Numbers Have to Say

By  Nina Friedman, REALTOR, Blue Ridge Realty & Investments, LLC

While normally April showers bring May flowers, this year there just seemed to be more showers! So far though June is looking much brighter and, thankfully, drier! It is a beautiful time of year to be in the High Country, but, really, when is it not? 

Before we fall fully into the glories of summer, let’s take a look at Real Estate in the High Country in May and see what the numbers have to say.

May saw 187 closed single family sales in the High Country Association of REALTORS Multiple Listing Service. Of those 187 sales, 167 were in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties, the area we look at most closely when analyzing High Country Real Estate. Of those 167, 32 were condos or townhomes and 135 were single family detached. 

List prices ranged from a minimum of $119,000 to a maximum of $2,149,000 with an average List Price of $528,916 and a median List Price of $435,000.  Sold prices went from a minimum of $100,000 to a maximum of $1,950,000 with an average Sold Price of $512,324 and a median Sold Price of $430,000. 

Minimum Bedroom and Bath count was 0/1 and the maximum was 6/6 with the average and median both being 3/2. The minimum recorded for heated living area was 300, maximum HLA was 5599 and average heated living area was 1716. With condos and townhomes in the mix, of course minimum acres was 0, but maximum was 24.83, average acreage was 1.32 and median was .54 acres. 

The average Sales Price to List Price ratio was 97% and the median was 98%. The average days on market was 78 and the median days on market was 50. 

An interesting comparison to what closed in May is what went Under Contract (also known as Pending) in May. As of this writing, there are 155 residential properties that went under contract in May. Of those 120 are Single Family and 35 are condos or townhomes. 

List prices range from a minimum of $24,900 to a maximum of $3,950,000 with an average List Price of $615,040 and a median List Price of $475,000. 

Minimum Bedroom and Bath count is 0/1 and the maximum is 10/9 with the average being 3/3 and median being 3/2. The minimum recorded for heated living area is 0, maximum HLA is 9110 and average heated living area is 1441. With condos and townhomes in the mix, of course minimum acres is 0, but maximum is 37.66, average acreage is 2.12 and median is .63 acres. 

When the time rolls around for June’s stats, we’ll revisit these Under Contract/Pending numbers and see how they compare to what actually closed…not to say that everything that went pending in May will close in June, but it will be a good indicator of the current health of the market.

In the meantime, unfurl yourself, turn your face to the sky and enjoy this beautiful place we get to call home!