Despite a harsh winter, home prices continue to rise in Asheville, up by 10.2 percent in March compared to last year, according to a national real estate research firm.

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ASHEVILLE – Despite a harsh winter, home prices continue to rise in Asheville, up by 10.2 percent in March compared to last year, according to a national real estate research firm.

On a month-over-month basis, home prices, including the sale of foreclosed properties at lower prices, increased by 2 percent in March 2014 compared to February 2014, said analysts at CoreLogic, in a national report released Tuesday.

Mary Love, a local Realtor with Keller Williams, said price trends vary dramatically by location. West Asheville homes are selling at an average price of $181,000, down some $12,000 from November while across the river in North Asheville, homes fetched $408,000 on average.

“It’s crazy the price difference,” Love said. “But across Buncombe County, prices are definitely going up. We’re past the decline in the housing market and barring a really poor first quarter due to the harsh winter, we could see prices really take off.”

Bad weather had put a lid on house prices nationwide, CoreLogic leaders said.

“March data on new and existing home sales was weaker than expected and is a cause for concern as we enter the spring buying season,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 11.1 percent in March 2014 compared to March 2013. This change represents 25 months of consecutive year-over-year increases in home prices nationally. On a month-over-month basis, home prices nationwide increased 1.4 percent in March compared to February.

“Home prices continue to rise across the nation, but affordability, tight credit and supply concerns are becoming an increasing drag on purchase market activity,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, headquartered in Irvine, Calif.

From: Dale Neal, [email protected]12:42 p.m. EDT May 7, 2014 http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2014/05/07/home-prices-rise-asheville/8806471/

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Asheville, North Carolina (PRWEB) April 27, 2014

Nestled among the Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville, North Carolina continues to blossom into one of the most unique cities to live. What is especially charming about this Appalachian Mountain town is its quaint preservation of historical landmarks like The Biltmore Estate, while, introducing new age music and art. The Downtown Asheville Art District (DADD) is historically maintained in a Neoclassical and Beaux architectural time warp reminiscent of the mid 18th century, sprinkled with art deco styles of today, making Asheville one of the most historically edgy cities to enjoy your retirement.

Take a look at the Asheville art and musical events coming to this best mountain town in May:

May 2 – Cathy Ryan at the Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place
May 3 – Once Upon a Time at the Asheville Community Theater
May 3 – Mandolin Player Sierra Hull at the Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place
May 8 – LEAF – Lake Eden Arts Festival at Black Mountain
May 9 – Pechakucha Night – The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design
May 10 – Asheville Symphony Orchestra at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
May 15 – Menopause the Musical at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
May 16 – Drawing on Creativity with Ken Hillberry at the Asheville Art Museum
May 17 – Montford Music & Arts Festival
May 20 – Tegan and Sara Plus Lucius & The Courtneys at the Orange Peel
May 23 – Lunchtime Art Break at the Asheville Museum of Art
May 31 – The 17th Annual Black Mountain Arts & Crafts Show

Asheville’s real estate is, too, a blossoming flower. Some of the best places to live in Asheville reside just outside of the downtown area. There are many things to do in Asheville, and with beautiful homes like those available in Southcliff, Biltmore Lakes or Biltmore Park where folks can indulge in the lifestyle they’ve earned.

While many of us can’t afford to live like the affluent Vanderbilt family at The Biltmore Estate, Southcliff in Fairview is a breathtaking gated mountain community with home sites offering up to 3 acres for just under $100,000 to over $1 million dollars. Homes and townhomes modestly priced at around $400,000 to just over $ 1 million dollars face the south side of Cedar Cliff Mountain revealing views that will make you forget you’re a mere 7 miles away from downtown Asheville and near a Blue Ridge Parkway entrance. Ideal for those retirees who want to enjoy nature without being too far off the beaten path.

Downtown Asheville is the epicenter for music, art and festivals. Having over 20 art galleries with art walk tours, a locally infused weekly drum circle and home to annual festivals like Moogfest, LEAF Festival, Folkmoot and Mountain Oasis, folks will never run out of fun things to do in Asheville. The Leaf Festival is a three-day event offers many outdoor activities, poetry readings and bluegrass music celebrating some of the oldest roots of Asheville.

Eclectic musical performances stretch across over a dozen venues like the Orange Peel or Grey Eagle, known for their state of the art acoustics, superb lighting system and local brew selections. Enjoy the permanent selection of Twentieth and Twenty-first century art, including, Contemporary Art exhibits at Asheville Museum of Art. Just minutes away from each other, the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium and Diana Wortham Theatre offer a wide range of shows, concerts, community events, meetings and conventions including residencies like the Asheville Symphony, Asheville Lyric Opera and Asheville Bravo.

Want to be a tad bit further away from the hustle and bustle of city life? Biltmore Lake offers gorgeous lakeside homes starting in the $300k’s. This Bohemian style community wrapped around Biltmore Lake is where boating, fishing, and hiking are an everyday occurrence for nature lovers has over 4.2 miles of hiking trails that lead to parks and fishing docks making Biltmore Lakes one of the best places to live in Asheville.

Located in the southern part of Asheville, Biltmore Park Town Square leaves folks with a taste of both, small town living and big city life. Beautiful condominiums and townhomes line the town square, walking distance away from urbanized shops, dining and entertainment, all without sacrificing close proximity to the French Broad River; great for kayaking and canoeing. Biltmore Park is one of the best places to live in Asheville for yuppies, young families and retirees wanting to be within walking distance of fun things to do in Asheville and near a Blue Ridge Parkway entrance.

Southcliff, Biltmore Lakes or Biltmore Park are prime locations where folks can relish in small town mentality while also enjoying the contemporary style a big city making Asheville the perfect place to retire in a best mountain town.

Contact Real Estate Scorecard’s trusted colleague Sean McLaughlin of Mountain Oak Properties to schedule a tour of these neighborhoods and other hidden gems in Asheville at 248.470.4009.

About Real Estate Scorecard:

Real Estate Scorecard writes unbiased real estate reviews providing in-depth information about popular gated communities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, all in an effort to help people discover where to retire in the Southeast.

From 2003-2009, the median sale price for a home outside Asheville but still in Buncombe County was higher than it was inside the city. But the city and the county figures flip-flopped in 2010.

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ASHEVILLE – The number of home buyers looking to live in neighborhoods within a reasonable bicycle ride of downtown Asheville reflects more than a desire to be close to a favorite brewpub, says local Realtor Mike Figura. Demographers and real estate analysts nationwide say there is an increase in interest in urban living in many parts of the country, although there is disagreement about how strong it is and what it means for home sales in suburban and rural areas. Statistics complied by Figura, head of Mosaic Community Lifestyle Realty, suggest there has been a shift of some kind in the positions of the housing markets inside Asheville and outside city limits.

From 2003-09, the median sale price for a home outside Asheville but still in Buncombe County was higher than it was inside the city each year. The median is the point at which half are higher, half lower. But the city and county figures flip-flopped in 2010, and prices in the city have been higher since. In the first quarter of this year, the median was $215,000 inside the city, $196,000 outside it. Local analysts say the vibrancy of downtown and West Asheville’s Haywood Road corridor are factors in the change, along with higher gas prices and home buyers seeking to reduce their impact on the planet. Figura said similar things are happening in other cities that have put an emphasis on making their urban cores more attractive.

People have rediscovered the benefits of living closer to the grocery store and to their neighbors, he said. “My gut instinct is telling me that what is happening is the two large generations, boomers and their kids, are preferring urban living and that’s putting pressure on urban (housing) markets,” Figura said. Jed Kolko, chief economist at real estate website Trulia, wrote recently that changes in home prices in urban neighborhoods in larger metropolitan areas have indeed outpaced suburban ones, although not by a huge margin. But, he says, population growth is stronger in suburbs than it is in neighborhoods where more than half of the housing units are apartments or condominiums. Part of what happened, he says, is that it is easier to build in the suburbs, keeping prices lower: “The suburbs are far from over.”

Original Credit: Mark Barrett

April 19

“Supercharge Your IRA With Real Estate” seminar: 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College’s Sycamore Building, 340 Victoria Road. The nonprofit member-driven Carolinas Real Estate Association presents Jim Hitt, CEO of American IRA, and Sean McKay, the company’s senior vice president. Learn to use self-directed IRA’s to boost retirement funds with real estate investments. $69 for CREIA, REIA members and $89 for others. 206-8560 or www.creianc.org.

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The housing market is stronger today than at any point since the Great Recession and has made progress in several key areas after hitting bottom in 2009, Freddie Mac reports in a blog post looking at the state of the housing market heading into spring.

Home sales are up 13 percent since their low point, Freddie Mac reports. Frank Notaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, predicts that home sales will rise about 3 percent in 2014.

red more: www.ibuyhomesllc.com/sunnier-days-ahead-in-housing-freddie-says

Sunnier Days Ahead in Housing, Freddie Says

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2014

Home sales are up 13 percent since their low point, Freddie Mac reports. Frank Notaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, predicts that home sales will rise about 3 percent in 2014.

Also, the agency reports that housing starts are up 50 percent since hitting bottom. Freddie Mac is predicting a nearly 20 percent increase in new-housing starts in 2014, “which will begin to help ease tight inventories in many markets.”

Housing prices have also been on the upswing, about 16 percent higher than their bottom in 2009, Freddie Mac reports. They expect home values to continue to rise this year, but at a more moderate 5 percent pace. Also, researchers say many markets are still posting housing values that are below their 2006 peaks.

Freddie Mac is forecasting mortgage rates to remain near their historic lows this year, but rates are expected to rise about a half-percentage point during the year to around a 5 percent average by the end of the year.

Source: “After Winter Chill, Time to Spring Forward,” Freddie Mac (April 10, 2014)

Asheville and Buncombe County have made a stronger effort to build affordable housing, sinking $17.4 million into developments between 2007-13, with money coming from federal, city and county funding.

During that time, the Asheville Housing Trust Fund accounted for $1.7 million in spending, while $3.6 million came through Buncombe.

Asheville has made strides, according to the “Affordable Housing Scorecard,” authored by researcher Mai Thi Nguyen, putting 461 rental units and 223 homes on the market between 2007-13. The city paid $10,000 for Nguyen’s report, and City Council again made affordable housing a top priority at a planning retreat.

Link to whole article: http://goo.gl/FZcgjt

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By Rick Newman March 5, 2014 1:12 PM Yahoo Finance

It now seems pretty clear that late 2012 or early 2013 was the ideal time to purchase a home: Real-estate prices and interest rates were both near record lows, creating an unprecedented buying opportunity for those who could muster a down payment and qualify for a mortgage.

Home affordability is still pretty good by historical standards, but typical buyers are once again being priced out in at least two dozen markets ranging from coastal hotspots to lower-cost inland cities. Three factors are pushing the cost of owning a home beyond the financial reach of ordinary families: Mortgage rates are ticking upwward as the Federal Reserve backs away from the super-easy monetary policy of the past five years. Home prices are rising as the economy recovers. And incomes are barely budging, which means typical families are once again falling behind as they try to bank enough to buy a home.

We used data from research firm RealtyTrac to determine where housing affordability is deteriorating the most. At the top of the list is Salinas, Calif., where a median-priced home rose 40% from the end of 2012 to the end of 2013, to $388,000. When rising interest rates are factored in, the income required to purchase a typical home rose by a whopping 58%.

[Click here to check home loan rates in your area.]

The 10 areas in the list below are ranked by the increase in income required to buy a typical home from December 2012 to December 2013. We also included RealtyTrac’s affordability-index rating for the county each city is located in, to exclude cities in which required incomes have risen but homes are still relatively cheap. (The affordability index represents the median income per county as a percentage of the required income for a typical home purchase, so cities with a rating below 100 are less affordable while those above 100 are more affordable). We also grouped cities in northern and southern California into two entries, since there are so many of them. Here are the 10 areas where home affordability is deteriorating the most:

Source: RealtyTrac

With home prices rising nationwide by an average of about 11% in 2013, the income required to buy a typical home rose in all but a handful of cities. Still, affordability remains strong in the majority of markets, says Daren Blomquist of RealtyTrac. Here are the 10 cities where affordability has either improved during the past year, or barely changed (affordability-index data isn’t available for every city):

Source: RealtyTrac

The problem with the most affordable cities is they tend to be less vibrant than those where demand for housing is strong and prices are rising. So while affordability may still be good in many cities, economic opportunity may be lacking.

Meanwhile, the other big factor that determines whether families can buy a home — even if they may have the money for a down payment — is whether their credit rating is strong enough to qualify for a mortgage. Banks have been loosening up, and some have recently begun to lend to subprime borrowers for the first time since the housing bubble began to burst back in 2006. But for some borrowers, it’s a Catch-22: Lending standards are easing just as affordability is worsening. Some families that might have been able to afford a home a year ago can’t now, even if they’re more likely to qualify for a mortgage.

All of these factors will determine whether the housing recovery continues or peters out, which some economists are starting to worry about. While 2013 seemed to be a nice comeback year for housing after six years of price declines, some analysts think it was illusory. “The housing price gains in 2013 may have been a mirage,” writes Jeffrey Rosen, chief economist at research firm Briefing.com. “First-time home buyers have been effectively priced out of the market.”

Rosen believes a surge of all-cash buyers — who are usually investors buying properties to flip or rent — pushed up prices in 2013, a trend that could reverse itself in 2014 as demand from investors wanes. If so, homes that have drifted beyond the reach of first-time buyers could become more affordable, not less. “Affordability conditions need to revert to where they were in January 2013,” Rosen says.

If that happens, potential homeowners should make sure they don’t miss a historic buying opportunity twice.

Rick Newman’s latest book is Rebounders: How Winners Pivot From Setback To Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.

Asheville Home Sales Averages & Standards of the past year. Learn what “normal” is in the Asheville real estate market.

The table below shows data for All Asheville, NC zipcodes

Asheville, North Carolina – Average Home Sizes and Asking Prices

Zipcode	Single Family Home					Townhome or Condo
Zipcode	4 BR		3 BR		Listings	3 BR		2 BR		Listings
28801	4,000 sf	$813,000	1,500 sf	$261,000	39	2,000 sf	$582,000	1,400 sf	$483,000	32
28803	4,400 sf	$1,168,000	2,000 sf	$378,000	150	2,000 sf	$238,000	1,200 sf	$180,000	61
28804	4,000 sf	$1,006,000	1,000 sf	$88,000	123	2,600 sf	$531,000	1,300 sf	$242,000	8
28805	3,000 sf	$468,000	2,000 sf	$297,000	74	2,300 sf	$307,000	1,300 sf	$151,000	12
28806	2,200 sf	$286,000	1,500 sf	$207,000	137	1,600 sf	$197,000	1,200 sf	$113,000	15