
By Jim Lewis, REALTOR, Blue Ridge Realty & Investments, LLC
Brace yourself…there are only about 157 shopping days left until Christmas.
Shocking, right? I know, I could have chosen a better way to remind you that the first half of 2023 has already passed and in the past, and we are almost 1/3 of the way through the third quarter already.
What did Real Estate in the High country look like in the first half of 2023?
According to the High Country Association of REALTORS, there were 1018 Single Family Residences sold in the High Country the first half of 2023.
Minimum list price was $24,900 and the maximum list price was $5,200,000; the average list price was $555,069 and the median list price was $425,000.
Minimum sold price was $25,500 and the maximum sold price was $4,700,000; the average sold price was $535,845 and the median sold price was $415,000.
We’ll look at more data from the first half of the year in just a bit, but let’s stop here and compare this data set with the same period for last year.
Again, the data we’re looking at was drawn from the High Country Association of REALTORS.
For the first half of 2022, 1275 single family homes were sold in the High Country. That’s 257 homes more than this year, but, to be fair, inventory is down across the country.
Minimum list price was $30,000 and the maximum list price was $6,999,000; the average list price was $506,904 and the median list price was $389,900.
Minimum sold price was $30,000 and the maximum sold price was $6,316,667; the average sold price was $501,066 and the median sold price was $394,000.
While the number of sales for the first half of 2023 is lower than what we saw in 2022, prices have seen an overall increase. It is true that both the minimum and maximum list and sold properties were higher for 2022, those are singular properties and not necessarily representative of the market as a whole. Plus, when you consider both of these numbers are higher than the 2023 minimums and maximums, it makes the higher averages of 2023 more significant.
The average list price for the first half of 2023 increased by 9.5% from the first half of 2022 and the median list price increase by 9%. Average sold price increased 6.9%, and the median sold price increased by 5.3% from the first half of 2022 to the first half of 2023.
Of course, because of the shortage of inventory, part of this can be attributed to basic supply and demand economics, but considering the rise in interest rates from the same period last year, the increase in prices, while a little surprising, is quite encouraging when compared to what many of the economic indicators had been at the beginning of the year.
As for the rest of the interesting data for the first half of 2023, the average number of bedrooms and baths was 3 each, but median was 3 beds, 2 baths. The average acreage was 2.6, but median acreage was .66. Average heated living area was 1864, average list price per heated living area was $297.22 and average sold price per heated living area was $287.38.
Average Days on Market was 88 and median days on market was 53. Another small comparison here to the same time period for 2022. The Average Days on Market was 79 and the median Days on Market was 49. So, the average is up by 11% and the median by 9%. While this does show the market has slowed slightly from a year ago, this is not necessarily a bad thing.
From mid 2020 to mid 2022 properties moved so fast a lot buyers felt frustrated and shut out of the market. With a slightly longer time between listing and going under contract, properties have time for full market exposure, allowing a greater pool of buyers an opportunity to participate in the robust real estate market of the High Country.
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