Back HomeSales Stats from January 2022
I wanted to mention a few statistics from home sales in January. Inventory, or lack thereof, remains front and center. In January 2021 we had 208 homes on the market in Haywood County. This year, January 2022, we only had 122 homes on the market. This is 0ver 41% less available inventory than last year. That is only a one-month supply of homes. A balanced market is considered to be a market where the number of buyers and sellers are approximately equal. The real estate industry as a whole considers a balanced market to be a 6.5 months’ supply of homes. This means we have a market where we have far more buyers than sellers. For every home that comes on the market we have multiple buyers looking and possibly making offers, which leads to competition between buyers, which leads to higher selling prices. For example, in January 2022 the average home price rose to $382,304 from $353,126 in January 2021. This was an increase of over 23% from year to year.
Another stat of interest was Percent of Original List Price Received. Last year (2021) was a very good year in real estate sales and the average home sold for 93.6% of the original listed price. This year in January the average home sold for 98% of the original list price. Many homes sold for well over list price.
Also, even considering the lack of inventory in January 2022, we had an 8.5% increase in the number of homes sold.
Will home prices continue to rise this year? Well, I wish I knew, but I don’t have the proverbial crystal ball. I do believe, however, that home prices will continue to remain high and probably increase a little more as long as inventories remain so low.
These beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina continue to bring workers who can work from home, retirees who want to live out their lives here, or city dwellers who want a second home where they can get away from the city and make some cash renting their home on VRBO or Airbnb.
If you are considering selling your home, I cannot think of a better time to do so. If you are looking for a home here, let us know. We can help you negotiate this crazy market.
