Real Estate Market Trends in Asheville
What do you need to know about Asheville real estate? Buying a house in this North Carolina city requires knowing a little bit about many parts of life.What Are House Values Like?Homes tend to retain their value better in this city than in the state as a whole. During the latest housing crash, for example, home prices actually stayed fairly consistent instead of plunging dramatically like many cities around the state and country. What’s more, home prices tend to be tens of thousands of dollars higher than the state median.What Are the Homes Like?And according to one real estate website, the median age of homes is about 15 years older than the national median age of 1974. Similarly, the median square footage for homes there is just over 1,300, roughly 200 square feet less than the U.S. median.That is not to say there isn’t a good selection of newer and larger homes available. Approximately 10 percent of the city’s real estate has been built since the year 2000, so there are still plenty of newer houses within the market.How are the Schools?If you are moving a young family, you will undoubtedly want to know about the school system in town. There are plenty of well-ranked elementary through high schools in Asheville, with many of the private schools receiving the best reviews.What is it Like to Live?The cost of living is less in Asheville than on average in the United States. According to the 2008 cost of living index, Asheville carries a 91.3 reading, while the U.S. average is 100. If you are making a decent income while living there, that can mean life is a little easier to pay for than elsewhere. Be aware though, that as of the 2000 census, the median income was almost $8000 less than the state’s median.One thing to consider is that crime rates tend to be slightly higher than the state average.Outside the crime data, it may be comforting to know that the temperatures in the city stay in a fairly mild range all year long, although it is more humid than the national average. And Asheville’s risk of being hit by a tornado is slightly lower than the state average and 16 percent lower than the U.S. average.Once you have decided that this is the city for you, local real estate agents can be some of your best resources in determining where and when to buy.