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High Country Real Estate

By Mark Tyburski, REALTOR, Blue Ridge Realty & Investments, LLC

Hope your first month of 2024 has you off to a good start. That’s certainly the case with Real Estate in the High Country, as we take a look at January’s statistics.

All information and statistics were gathered from the High Country Multiple Listing Service. 

For the month of January for the counties of Alleghany, Ashe, Avery and Watauga, there were 124 closed residential properties.

The minimum List Price was $89,900, the maximum List Price was $2,529,000, the average List Price was $640,978 and the median List Price was $525,000. The minimum Sold Price was $95,000, the maximum Sold Price was $2,600,000, the average Sold Price was $616,548 and the median Sold Price was $491,500. 

It is interesting to note that both the minimum and maximum Sold Prices were above their List Price counterparts, but both the average Sold Price and median Sold Price were below their respective prices on the List side.

Minimum BR/BA count was 1/1, maximum 7/5, average 3/3 and median 3/2. Heated Living Area (HLA) minimum was 501, maximum was 4578 and average HLA was 1840. Acreage minimum, as always since residential properties include condos, was 0 and maximum is 123, average acreage was 3.73 and median was .55 acres.

Minimum Sales Price to List Price Ratio was 76%, maximum was 1.06, average was 96% and median was 97%. Maximum Days On Market was 519, average was 126 and median was 76.

For some perspective, in January 2023 there were 107 closed residential properties. Average List Price was $622,204 and median List Price was $450,000. Average Sold Price was $595,748 and median Sold Price was $440,000. Average and median Sold Price to List Price Ratio was 97%. Maximum Days On Market was 728, average was 100 and median was 64.

List and Sold price averages and medians for January 2024 were up over January 2023, as was the number of sales. The average Sold Price to List Price ratio dropped a percentage point, but the median held steady at 97%. Days on Market Maximum for January 2023 was higher than January 2024, but the average and median were somewhat lower. Overall, this seems to suggest that while homes might be staying on the market a bit longer, values appear to be rising.

Now let’s take a look at land sales for the month of January.

High Country MLS reports 84 land and lot sales for January 2024, with a minimum List Price of $7,000, a maximum List Price of $975,000, with and average List Price of $145,059 and median of $71,000. Minimum Sold Price was $1,000, maximum Sold Price was $800,000, average $130,888 with a median of $65,000.

Of course, one of the most important factors when discussing land value is acreage. The minimum was .24 acres, the maximum 80.50, with the average being 6.68 acres and the median being 1.31 acres. The average Sale Price to List Price ratio was 88% and the median was 90%. The average Days on Market was 317 and median clocked in at 164.

All that to say, January was a good month for real estate in the High Country and hopefully, an indicator of an amazing year ahead!