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Musings from the Mountains
The above photo is the old “Omigosh Double” chairlift (the left one) at Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley. I am happy to report that the old double chairlift to the top has been replaced by a Quad lift this year, the new “Omigosh Quad” chairlift. This gives them 2 Quads, 1 Triple, and 2 surface lifts for the 2025 – 2026 ski season.
Cataloochee Ski Area opened last week, timing the weather perfectly. They have been blowing snow every chance they get and now have a base of 24 to 38 inches with 7 of 18 trails open and 3 of 5 lifts operating. Also, the weatherman is calling for some colder temperatures this weekend and early next week, so hopefully more snowmaking will happen.
Cataloochee Ski Area has invested big time into having state-of-the-art snowmaking equipment. Being so far South, Cataloochee can’t depend on natural snow alone to cover the slopes. We salute them for their consistent vision, improvements, and all the visitors Cataloochee brings to the surrounding area.
A Tale of Two Counties
Maggie Valley, Waynesville, Canton and Clyde are all within Haywood County. Directly to the east of Haywood is Buncombe County containing the city of Asheville. Buncombe County is a bustling area with many tourist attractions, and a very active real estate market. In fact, the PBS TV program, This Old House, is currently showing episodes from Asheville and Swannanoa as the “This Old House” gang helps 5 homeowners rebuild after the flood from Hurricane Helene in September of 2024. Also, it was announced last week that Asheville would now be home to a PGA Golf Event, The Biltmore Championship. The inaugural tournament will be in September of 26.
I usually give previous month’s updates in this blog for Haywood County, but I thought it would be interesting to compare Haywood’s numbers in October with Buncombe County’s numbers. So here goes:
New Listings- Haywood had 138, a 64.3% increase from October of last year. Buncombe had 502 new listings, a 154.8% increase from October of last year.
Pending Sales- Haywood had 104, a 46.5% increase from October of last year. Buncombe had 351 pending sales, a 161.9% increase from October of last year.
Closed Sales- Haywood had 86, a 2.4% increase from October of last year. Buncombe had 341, a 79.5% increase from October of last year.
Median Sales Price- Haywood, $385,000, an 11,2% decrease from last year. Buncombe, $450,000 a 1.7% increase from October of last year.
Average Sales Price- Haywood, $483,306, a 3.8% decrease from last year. Buncombe, $571,671, a 14.3% decrease from October of last year.
Average List Price- Haywood, $546,792, a 14.3% increase from October of last year. Buncombe, $715,817, a 15.5% increase from October of last year.
Month’s Supply of Inventory- Haywood, 5.8 months, a 16% increase from October of last year. Buncombe, 6.0 months, a 62.2% increase from October of last year.
It is important to remember that in October of last year we were dealing with the devastation from Hurricane Helene that occurred September 27, 2024. Also, the population of Haywood County is only 63,000 compared to Buncombe County’s 280,000. (Buncombe is approximately 4.4 times larger than Haywood in population.)
I hope you find our blog interesting; I sure did. Remember, if you have any real estate questions or comments, please let us know.
Interesting Facts About Haywood County, NC
Here in Haywood County (Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Clyde, Canton) we are very proud of our county. Our tall mountains and wide valleys make our county unique in the Eastern United States. Here are a few facts you may not have known:
Haywood has more 6,000 feet + mountains (13) than any county east of the Mississippi River.
Shining Rock- 6010 feet, Grassy Cove Top 6055 feet, Tennent Mountain 6040 feet, Black Balsam Knob- 6214 feet, Sam’s Knob- 6055 feet, Rheinhart Knob- 6095 feet, Richland Balsam- 6410 feet, Cold Mountain- 6030 feet, Waterrock Knob- 6292 feet, Mt. Lynn Lowery- 6290 feet, Plot Balsam- 6088 feet, Mt. Guyot- 6621 feet, Big Cataloochee- 6180 feet
Haywood has the highest average elevation of any county in the East.
Haywood’s rivers, creeks and springs are its own. All water in the county originates here.
Haywood is home to almost 10% (46 miles) of the Blue Ridge Parkway with entrances from Highway 276 at Wagon Wheel Gap, Highway 215 at Beech Gap, and Highway 23/74 at Balsam Gap, and Highway 19 at Soco Gap. The highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway is in Haywood County.
Pisgah National Forest in Haywood County is part of the National Forest Scenic Byway, a 79-mile loop.
Haywood County is a Civil War site. Kirk’s Raid occurred here in 1865.
Canton was originally Cherokee Indian Territory. A post office first opened there in 1837. The community was named Pigeon River at that time.
Haywood’s oldest church, now First Baptist Church in Canton, was established in 1801 as Locust Old Fields Church.
The railroad came to Canton in 1881 and to 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. 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 Library formed under the guidance of the Canton Women’s Club.
Canton was home to the Champion Paper Mill for 115 years. The mill employed and provided an income to generations of workers in Canton. The mill was closed in 2023.
I hope you enjoyed the facts about our county.
Real Estate Recap September 2025
Many pundits and podcasters are sewing doom and gloom about the real estate market. Here in Haywood County our numbers for September show the opposite.
Our inventories rose by 26.6% in September giving us a 6.2 month’s supply of homes, based on September sales. These numbers are historically viewed as a “balanced market”. (A market where we have an almost equal number of buyers and sellers.)
Our closed sales were up a whopping 77.8% when compared to September 2024. Our pending sales were also up 11% compared to September 2024.
The median sales price of a home sold in September was up 10% to $417,995 when compared to September 2024. The average sales price of a home sold in September was up 20.8% to $544,087 when compared to September 2024.
Our days on market from list to closed rose 65.3% to 124 days compared to September 2024. I believe this is due to the increase in inventory. Last year inventories were so thin that buyers were rushing to get a contract in place before someone else made an offer on a home.
As you can see, real estate markets can be difficult, if not impossible to predict. If you are thinking about listing your home for sale, or possibly buying a home, let us know. We can help you navigate a changing market.
Musings from the Mountains
Here at the end of September my mind wanders back to a year ago when we were facing the destruction left by Hurricane Helene. On September 27th, 2024, we had huge amounts of rain and wind that left 5 dead in Haywood County, and many residents homeless. The year since the hurricane has seen our residents come together in so many ways to help each other in time of need.
Haywood County was not hit as hard as Buncombe County and Asheville to our east. But to the residents of Canton, and others along the Pigeon River upstream of Canton, it must have felt as if they were being picked on. In August 2021 the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred dumped copious amounts of rain on the mountain slopes above the Pigeon River and its tributaries upstream of Canton. Six residents lost their lives in the flash flood that tore through Cruso, Bethel and eventually downtown Canton. Many residents lost their homes due to Fred in 2021, only to be hit again by Helene in 2024. Many were still living in temporary housing, only to be flooded again.
I read one account on Facebook, after Helene had flooded that a resident walked into downtown Canton on Sunday, I believe, after the flood. This resident saw only one man sitting in a lawn chair. As he approached the man, he realized that he was crying. The man in the lawn chair crying, was Zeb Smathers, the mayor of Canton.
As sad as these disasters have been, it is truly amazing to see how residents have come together to help one another. We have even had emergency workers, and volunteers coming in from other states to help. This has renewed my faith in mankind. To those who helped, thank you one and all.
Everything is back open now and businesses need your patronage. Please come visit and enjoy our beautiful mountains. If you have any real estate questions, please let us know. We’re here to help!
Real Estate Recap August 2025
At first glance, August real estate sales seemed to be a bit slow. However, the month finished strong. Closed sales improved 4.1% over August 2024. Pending sales rose a whopping 67.5% over August 2024.
New listings rose 1.2% over August 2024. Our inventory of homes for sale rose 26.7% over August 2024. This brings our month’s supply of inventory to 6.0 months. (This means if sales rates continued the same, and no new homes came on the market, we would be out of homes to sell in exactly 6 months.) A 6 month’s supply of homes is considered a “balanced market”, which is neither a seller’s market, or a buyer’s market.
The percentage of original list price received dropped from 93.6% in August 2024 to 92.4% this August. This means the average home on the market has been discounted 7.6% from the original list price. Two factors make up this decrease: Price decreases as a home’s price is dropped by the sellers to better compete in the market and offers by buyers for less than the listed sales price.
So, all in all, August turned into a pretty good month for home sales in Haywood County.
If you are considering buying a home, or selling your home, please let us help guide you through the process. Thank you!
National Real Estate Trends or Local?
There is a saying in real estate that all real estate is local. Our market here in Haywood Country, NC does not mirror the market in Miami, Dallas, or anywhere else. I have recently seen several articles about real estate trends nationally. I thought it would be interesting to compare some national trends from these articles to our local numbers (Haywood County, NC). The numbers below are for July 2025 as these are the most current numbers available. (MOM=July 2025 compared to June 2025, YOY=July 2025 compared to July 2024)
Pending Sales MOM- Nationally -0.4% Locally +19.0%
Pending Sales YOY- Nationally +.25% Locally +46.5%
Price Growth YOY- Nationally +0.2% Locally -6.7%
Price Decreases YOY for select cities:
Tampa-6.2%—-Austin -6%—-Miami-4.6%—-Orlando-4.3%—-Dallas-3.9%
Our National Supply of homes listed for sale increased by 25% in July. Our Local Supply of homes listed for sale here in Haywood County increased by 47.7% in July. (Both YOY)
By the way, nationally, Raleigh, NC saw the largest increase in homes for sale YOY in July of any metropolitan area. Listings increased there by 54.5%.
To recap, our pending home sales in Haywood County were much higher than national numbers when comparing MOM or YOY for July. Our price growth was negative in July, -6.7% compared to +0.2% nationally. One month can always be an outlier. One reason for the price drop in July was the availability of lower priced inventory. In previous months it was difficult to find a decent home in the $300,000 and below price range. If you look at our January through July year to date price growth it comes in at a +1.6% increase. We do have sufficient inventory now, especially when compared to the last couple of years. We are in an unusual market here as many, if not most, of our customers and clients are retirees from Florida and other states moving here for our climate, and our beautiful mountains.
If you have any specific real estate questions, or needs, please let us know. We are here to help.
Real Estate Recap July 2025
If I had to sum up the information from July 2025, it would be the market continues toward a buyer’s market, as both inventories and sales continue to increase, while prices seemed to drop a bit.
New listings were up 13.8% from July 2024
Pending Sales were up a whopping 46.5% from July 2024
Closed Sales rose 18.4% from July 2024
The Median Sales Price dropped 7.3% from July 2024 to $380,000 (This was partially due to more lower-price-range homes coming on the market.)
The Average Sales Price dropped 6.7% from July 2024 to $473,771
Cumulative Days on the Market Until Sale rose to 91 days from 50 days last year.
The Month’s Supply of Inventory rose to 6.2 compared to 4.3 in July 2024
It appears with increased inventories and increased sales numbers, the days on the market has increased substantially, however our market has remained exceptionally strong. With more homes on the market, buyers aren’t in a hurry to make a strong offer, as there is no sense of urgency to buy NOW, as compared to July 2024. Buyers are not so worried that someone else will make a better offer, with more homes to choose from.
If you have real estate questions, let us know. We are a smaller firm, but with highly experienced agents who follow the local market closely.
Musings from the Mountains
As I have been mentioning in previous posts, we are still moving away from our seller’s market, which was caused by low inventories, to a buyer’s market. Inventories continue to increase, but sales, thank goodness, are still strong compared to the same month last year in 2024.
Prices seem to be holding up well, if the home is properly priced to the market. There are, however, too many homes on the market that are over-priced. These homes will stay on the market, and the number of days on the market will continue to increase if a home is not properly priced. In my opinion, if a home is on the market for a couple of weeks, with no showings, it’s time to take a serious look at pricing. We placed a home on the market last week that I believe was correctly priced. We had several showings the first day on the market. By day 3, we had a contract on the home. In my opinion, a home should never be over-priced. I realize that everyone wants to maximize the proceeds from a sale, but over-pricing causes a home to stay on the market, letting the number of days on the market steadily increase. A buyer looks carefully at the number of days on the market. Too many days on the market often invites low-ball offers. Also, buyers begin to wonder why the home has been on the market so long, is something wrong with the home?
Moral of the story: Correct pricing is one of the most important considerations when listing a home for sale.
If you have any questions about selling, or buying a home please let us know. We can help.
Real Estate Recap June 2025
The same trends that were building the last few months continued through June. Inventory levels of homes for sale have continued to rise. At the same time, the median sales price and the average sales price in Haywood County actually dropped for the first time in a while. One reason for the drop is the price range of homes that sold in June. More reasonably price homes sold than luxury homes. I do believe, however, that we are very close to moving from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market. Below are the numbers from June 2025.
In June we had 156 new listings come on the market compared with 148 coming on the market in June 2024.
Closed sales in June dropped 7.6% from June 2024, although pending sales rose 7.1% from June 2024, almost a wash.
The median sales price dropped 17.6% from June 2024 to $350,000 this June.
The average sales price dropped 19.5% from June 2024 to $378,188 this June.
Days on the market until a sale increased 26.8% from June 2024 to 52 days this June.
The average list price increased 8.7% from June 2024 to $525,080 this June. (Two factors are possibly at play here, more luxury homes coming on the market, and some sellers still overpricing their homes to the market.)
Last year in June 2024 we had a 4.0 month’s supply of homes on the market. This June our inventory has increased to a 6.5 month’s supply of homes on the market. (A balanced market is usually defined as a 5 to 6 month’s supply of homes. At a 6.5 month’s supply we are entering a buyer’s market.)
Please let us know if you have any real estate questions. We will find an answer for you.
