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Sadly, A Fairwell Blog
I cannot tell you how wonderful it’s been to write these blogs every month. However, it seems that readership has declined over the last few years. I realize that we are all inundated with emails from every direction. I even get emails from the company that changes the oil in my car wanting me to rate my experience there. If I go to Sam’s Club any make a purchase, they want me to rate my experience there. If I order something from Amazon, I am asked to rate my purchase. Believe me when I say, “I understand that we all get too many emails and solicitations.”
So, for those reasons that will be our last blog for a while. Thank you so much for reading our blogs and emails. We are still here for your real estate questions and help when you need us.
Haywood County Market Snapshot June 2026
If you read the national news as it relates to housing and home sales, you would think sales were declining. However, when I look at sales here in Haywood County each month, I am pleasantly surprised that sales here are not in decline. Below is a snapshot of home sales and inventory for June 2026 here in Haywood County:
Closed Sales in June were up 12% over June 2025.
Pending Sales in June were up 23.4% over June 2025.
The Median Sales Price in June was up 22.9% over June 2025 to $430,000.
The Average Sales Price in June was up 32.1% over June 2025 to $497,086.
New Listings to the Market in June was down 7.7% over June 2025.
Inventory of Homes for Sale decreased 6.5% from June 2025.
Months’ Supply of Inventory decreased 20.3% from June 2025 to a 5.5 months’ supply.
Sales are up, prices are up, inventory is slightly down. In June 2025 we had a 6.9 months’ supply of homes, which moved us into a buyers’ market. (Greater supply of available homes favors the buyer, not the seller) This year in June we only had a 5.5 months’ supply of homes. This is a balanced market not favoring the buyer or the seller. (However, the trend is moving back to a sellers’ market where inventories are reduced, and buyers must compete with other buyers.)
Please let us know your comments, and let us help with any real estate questions.
Musings from the Mountains
Well, it seems that Summer is finally here. We have seen a couple of days with temperatures into the low 90’s. I hate to see days that warm again. When I first moved here there was a section in the telephone book that gave several vital statistics about Haywood County. I remember the all-time high temperature at the NC State Test Farm on Racoon Road was listed at 86 degrees. Those were the days! Below are some of the other facts listed in the old telephone directories. (By the way, if you are a young person, the telephone company issued a phone directory every year with the names, addresses and phone numbers of everyone in the county with a home telephone.)
Haywood County has 13 mountain peaks over 6,000 feet elevation. (The tallest being Mt. Guyot at 6,621 feet.)
Haywood County has the highest average elevation of any county in the Eastern US.
Haywood’s rivers and springs are its own: all the water in Haywood County originates here.
Haywood County is a Civel War site: Kirk’s Raid occurred here in 1865.
The railroad came to Canton in 1881 and Waynesville in 1882.
Two of the world’s largest sapphires were found in Canton’s Old Pressley Sapphire Mine.
Clyde’s 1795 Shook House was home of Jacob Shook. It was used for church services. Bishop Asbury was the first Methodist Bishop consecrated in America and used the Shook House for services.
In 1891, Haywood County got its first library when a group of Waynesville women started the Waynesville Library. In 1915 the Canton Woman’s Club formed the first library in Canton.
I wasn’t born in Haywood County, but I got here as fast as I could!
Haywood County Market Snapshot May 2026
I keep reading articles about real estate sales falling, but that certainly isn’t happening here.
Below are a few comparisons from May 2026 numbers to May 2025 numbers:
New Listings coming on the market were down 7.7% from May 2025 to 181 in May 2026.
Pending Sales increased 5.5% from May 2025 to May 2026.
Closed Sales increased 7.4% from May 2025 to May 2026.
Days on the market from List to Close decreased 12.1% from May 2025 to May 2026.
The Median Sales Price increased 1.6% from May 2025 to $408,500 in May 2026.
The Average Sales Price increased 1.3% from May 2025 to $463,783 in May 2026.
The Month’s Supply of Inventory fell 12.5% from May 2025 to 5.6 months in May 2026.
In summation, sales have marginally increased as have sales prices. At a 5.6 month’s supply of inventory, we are in a balanced market. Not a seller’s market, not a buyer’s market.
If you have any questions or comments about real estate, please let us know. We would love to answer your questions.
Musings from the Mountains
I don’t have the full report yet for May Residential home sales here in Haywood County, but it looks like sales were about the same as May 2025, maybe just a tad higher. It seems our sales continue to match or exceed sales from corresponding months in 2025. I will have a full report on the June 15th blog.
Just a few comments on local traffic improvements: The DOT is still working on the new traffic circle, which replaces the traffic lights at the intersection of Hwy 19 (Soco Road) and Hwy 276N (Jonathan Creek Road). There are still lots of orange barrels and traffic cones there, but traffic seems to be getting used to the changes. There have been a few fender benders, so approach this area with caution until the DOT completes the project. The project will eventually revamp Hwy 276N between Soco Road and I-40 at exit 20. This is about a 6-mile stretch of highway.
All the new bridges and widening of Russ Avenue in Waynesville are coming along also. Please use caution as you travel to downtown Waynesville as there are still a few lane changes.
Last, but not least, the changes at the intersection of Hwy 19-23 near Lake Junaluska are still in progress. This change was to replace 2 bridges on the bypass and make this intersection safer for traffic from Maggie Valley and Lake Junaluska to merge onto Hwy 19-23 (The Smoky Mountain Expressway) when headed toward Clyde and Canton.
Yesterday I was on I-26 headed from Asheville to Hendersonville. I am proud to report that much of the construction is now complete with 4 lanes heading East, and 4 lanes heading West. This has been an ongoing project for years, it seems.
The DOT has been very busy in Western NC. It will be nice to have all these projects completed.
Haywood County Market Snapshot April 2026
In these market snapshots I will be comparing the previous month this year (2026) to the same month last year (2025).
Pending Sales were up 18.3% from April 2025
Closed Sales were up 8.4% from April 2025
The Median Sales Price was $398,000, down 3.2% from April 2025
The Average Sales Price was $433,986, down 15.5% from April 2025
Days on the market until sale was 60, down 22.1% from April 2025
The Average List Price was $526,315, up 10.4% from April 2025
Months’ Supply of Inventory was 4.8, down 11.1% from April 2025
To recap, sales were up nicely in April, following the trend that’s been going on for the last several months. Both the median and average sales prices were down a bit. In my opinion, this is good news as prices were continuing to creep up. Days on the market were down, which usually means buyers are not waiting, when they find what they want. Lastly, the months’ supply of inventory is up from 4.2 months in March to 4.8 months in April. I would attribute this to more sellers listing homes in the Spring to prepare for the increased sales volume in Summer.
Please let us know if you have any real estate questions or comments. We are always available to help.
Musings from the Mountains
I am sending out the comparable home sales email today that we usually send on the first of the month. Looks like we sold 87 homes in April 2026 compared to 77 homes in April 2025. It seems we have been consistently beating last year’s numbers most months. No doom and gloom in our local market. Upon analyzing the numbers, it would seem that Horton Homes’ developments have helped our market numbers considerably. Horton currently has 3 large developments in the latter stages of building. They are currently building more homes in another development further out Jonathan Creek. This is the first nationally known home builder in years (or maybe forever) to make such a large building commitment in Haywood County. At the same time, we have 3 large apartment complexes recently added in the county, with a fourth apartment complex recently begun.
Downtown Waynesville was recently declared the number two smalltown downtown area in the USA by a prominent magazine. People admire our natural beauty, and the perks that come with living in a beautiful area of the mountains among the national parks, state parks, national forests, and wilderness areas. Those mountains and natural areas are drawing the nature lovers that want to live in a gorgeous area without the stressors of living in a large city. This is what is bringing more and more people to Haywood County. Some folks don’t like all the newcomers, but it’s very difficult to hide our lovely mountains.
Real Estate Recap March 2026
Well, I seem to have egg on my face from my blog of April 1st. I indicated that sales had fallen 6.25% when comparing March 2026 to March 2025, but guess what? When I posted the blog on April 1st, several agents had not posted all the end of March closings, so the decrease I spoke of never happened. We managed a gain of 2.4% for March 2026 when compared to March 2025.
Pending sales in March 2026 turned out extremely well, increasing 23.3% from March 2025.
The median sales price fell 3.5% in March 2026 when compared to March 2025, but the average sales price rose 2.7% when compared to March 2025.
The average listing price of homes coming on the market rose 17.3% in March 2026 when compared to March 2025. The average list price of new listings this year was $533,097.
Our month’s supply of inventory fell to 4.2 months in March 2026. This is up a bit from 4.0 in February and 4.1 in January 2026. This still keeps us in a “seller’s market”. In a balanced market we would have about a 5.5 month’s supply.
If you have any real estate questions, or would like help buying or selling real estate, please let us know. We can help!
Sales Finally Drop a Bit Compared to 2025
For January and February this year, sales were actually above January and February of 2025. However, in March 2026 we had our first monthly drop when comparing to 2025. Residential sales fell about 6.25% when compared to March of 2025.
There’s a lot of chaos going on in the world right now, with the war in Iran. Certainly, this makes major decisions, like purchasing a home, even more scary. Interest rates were beginning to drop, but now they have gone back up again. I was reading that mortgage refinancing had been increasing with lower interest rates, but now since the war began, mortgage refinancing has decreased by 40%.
No one can predict the future. Certainly, we are living in chaotic times. If you have any questions about real estate, please let us know. We are here to help. If we don’t know the answer to your question, we will try our best to find an answer for you.
Real Estate Recap February 2026
For February 2026, the same trends from January are still continuing.
We had 79 new listings for Haywood County in February, compared to 91 new listings in February 2025.
Pending Sales in February were up 7.1% over February 2025.
Closed Sales in February were up 11,9% over February 2025.
The Median Sales Price in February was $378,000 up 18.1% from February 2025.
The Average Sales Price in February was $428,696 up 12.1% from February 2025.
The Days from List to Close rose 4.8% from 124 in February 2025 to 130 this February.
The Average List Price of homes coming on the market rose 2.1% from $486,154 in February 2025 to $496,528 this February.
Our Month’s Supply of Inventory stayed the same as February 2025 at 4.0 month’s supply. (The month’s supply of inventory is how many months it would take to sell all the inventory if no more listings came of the market, and sales remained constant.)
Last fall in September we had a 6.2 month’s supply of inventory. A balanced inventory is about 5 to 5.5 months. At 6.2, we were moving into a buyer’s market. Since then, our month’s supply has steadily come down to 4.0 months, meaning we are back into a seller’s market.
I read articles referencing national statistics that describe how the real estate market is slowing. However, here in Western North Carolina, that is not the case. Remember, all real estate is LOCAL! National trends mean nothing if they are not occurring locally.
If we can help with your real estate needs, or if you just have a question, please let us know.
