By Mark Tyburski, REALTOR, Blue Ridge Realty & Investments, LLC
We hope the first month of 2024 gets off to a good start. Looking at the statistics for January, this certainly holds true for upland real estate.
All information and statistics were collected from the High Country Multiple Listing Service.
Allegany, Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties had 124 residential properties closed in January.
The lowest list price was $89,900, the highest list price was $2,529,000, the average list price was $640,978, and the median was $525,000. The lowest sale price was $95,000, the highest sale price was $2,600,000, the average sale price was $616,548, and the median sale price was $491,500.
What's interesting is that both the minimum and maximum sales prices are above the list price, but both the average and median sales prices are below their respective prices on the list side.
The minimum BR/BA count was 1/1, the maximum was 7/5, the mean was 3/3, and the median was 3/2. The minimum heated living area (HLA) value was 501, the maximum value was 4578, and the average HLA was 1840. Residential properties include condominiums, so as usual, the minimum area was 0, the maximum was 123, the average area was 3.73 acres, and the median was 0.55 acres.
The minimum selling price to list price ratio was 76%, the maximum was 1.06, the mean was 96%, and the median was 97%. Maximum time to market was 519 days, mean was 126 days, and median was 76 days.
For some perspective, as of January 2023, there were 107 closed residential properties. The average list price was $622,204 and the median list price was $450,000. The average sale price was $595,748 and the median sale price was $440,000. The mean and median sales price to list price ratio was 97%. Maximum time to market was 728 days, mean was 100 days, and median was 64 days.
The average and median list and sales prices in January 2024 were higher than in January 2023, as was the number of sales. The average sales price to list price ratio decreased by 1 percentage point, but the median remained stable at 97%. Maximum days on market in January 2023 was higher than January 2024, but the mean and median were slightly lower. Overall, this seems to suggest that the home may remain on the market a little longer, but the value appears to be increasing.
Next, let's take a look at the land sales situation in January.
High Country MLS is reporting 84 land and parcel sales for January 2024, with a low list price of $7,000, a high list price of $975,000, an average list price of $145,059, and a median of $71,000. The lowest sale price was $1,000, the highest sale price was $800,000, the average was $130,888, and the median was $65,000.
Of course, one of the most important factors when discussing land value is square footage. The minimum was 0.24 acres and the maximum was 80.50 acres, with a mean of 6.68 acres and a median of 1.31 acres. The average selling price to list price ratio was 88%, and the median was 90%. The average number of days on market was 317 days, and the median time on market was 164 days.
With all that said, January is a good month for High Country real estate and hopefully an indicator of a great year ahead.
