By Kaitlin Crawford, REALTOR, Blue Ridge Realty & Investments
Was May 2023 a good month for real estate in the High Country? May-be!
According to the High Country Association of REALTORS, there were 183 residential sales in May of 2023. The lowest listing price was $68,000, the lowest sales price was $55,000. The highest listing price was $3,2000,000, the lowest sales price was $3,100,000. The average listing price was $576,286 and the average sales price was $559,489. The median listing price was $450,000 and the median sales price was also $450,000.
There are some pretty interesting statistics beyond just listing and sales price.
For instance, in comparing the percentage of sales Price to listing price, the average for May of 2023 was 98%; May of 2022 the average was 100%. True, that’s a 2% drop, but it’s STILL 98% and when you consider the rise in interest rates, that’s really quite good. But when you consider the average Sales Price for May of 2022 was $502,814 compared to 2023’s $559,489…well, I tend to think an average 11% price sales price increase is worth an average 2% drop in sales price to list price ratio.
The lowest sales price to list price ratio was 79% and the highest was 117%.
Average amount of acreage was 3.14 and the median was .61, with 0 being the minimum and 89.07 being the maximum.
Lowest days on the market was zero, highest was 976, 82 was the average and 45 was the median.
Five bedrooms, six bathrooms were the maximum. Three bedrooms, three baths were the average. The median was three bedrooms, two baths.
The average heated area of residential properties sold in the month of May was 1852.
Now, I want to talk a little bit about Sold Price/HLA or what some people might call cost per square foot. Be warned! It’s never that simple. There is so much more than heated area that goes into a house…so much more! There is hot just heated area, but unheated area (basements, patios, porches), amenities, acreage, condition, location, view, updates, appliances, functional utility…literally dozens, sometimes even hundreds, of variables can figure into the price of a home. It’s so much more than heated living area.
But, with all of that being said, appraisers and mortgage companies have to have a way to quantify all of those factors. So, they roll it all into Sold Price/HLA. Which is why there is no consistent number to figure for each home in any community or neighborhood.
But, let’s talk about May…May I?
In May of 2023, the Sold Price/HLA minimum was $62.50, the maximum was $741.45, the average was $299.30 and the median was $274.23.
In May of 2022, the minimum was $31.38, the maximum was $740.38, the average was $270.99 and the median was $263.77.
While the minimum and maximum changed some, they are each only a reflection of an individual property. But the average increased by just over 10% and the median by almost 4%. That may not seem like a lot, but considering this is per single square foot of heated living area (and all that it represents of the residence) it is quite significant.
Again, while it may not hold forever, High Country Real Estate is showing itself to be strong and steady. This MAY be the best new I’ve heard all week.
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