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Remember when a home would hit the market on Friday, receive multiple offers by Sunday and sell for more than the asking price?
That market isn't completely gone… but it certainly isn't the market most sellers are experiencing today.
Here's a statistic that caught our attention: according to Zillow's most recent sale-to-list data, 74.2% of homes sold in Buncombe County closed for less than their final asking price. Only 12.1% sold above asking.
That's nearly three out of every four sales below asking price.
So, what's going on?
The answer isn't that buyers have suddenly stopped wanting to live in Asheville and Western North Carolina. In fact, recent sales data show that buyers are still very much in the market.
What's changed is the balance of power between buyers and sellers.
Buyers Have More Choices
For several years, one of the defining characteristics of our housing market was a shortage of homes for sale. Buyers often competed for the same property because there simply weren't enough choices.
That's changing.
As of the end of June, Zillow reported 1,987 homes for sale in Buncombe County.
Canopy MLS has been seeing the same broader trend. Its spring market reports showed inventory expanding across the Asheville region, giving buyers more time to evaluate homes and negotiate rather than feeling pressured to immediately make their strongest offer.
That's an important shift.
When buyers have five homes to consider instead of one or two, they're much less likely to overlook an ambitious asking price.
Buyers Are More Price-Conscious
There's another big piece of the puzzle: affordability.
Home prices rose dramatically during and immediately following the pandemic. At the same time, today's buyers are financing homes at interest rates considerably higher than the ultra-low rates available a few years ago.
That means buyers aren't simply looking at the asking price. They're looking at the monthly payment.
A $25,000 difference in price may not have seemed particularly significant to some buyers when mortgage rates were around 3%. At today's rates, every dollar matters more.
So buyers are doing the math… and they're negotiating accordingly.
Sellers Are Still Anchored to the Market of a Few Years Ago
This may be the biggest factor of all.
Real estate markets can change surprisingly quickly, but seller expectations often take longer to catch up.
It's understandable.
If your neighbor sold for $700,000 two or three years ago, it's difficult to hear that your similar home might be worth $650,000 today. And if you've watched your home's value increase substantially over the past decade, a modest pullback can feel like something must be wrong.
But buyers don't determine what they're willing to pay based on what a home was worth in 2022.
They make that decision based on what else they can buy today.
And right now, they have more choices.
The Asking Price Still Matters—a Lot
There's another number worth paying attention to.
Buncombe County's median sale-to-list ratio was 97.6% in Zillow's most recent data.
In other words, although a large majority of homes are selling below asking price, that doesn't mean buyers are routinely getting enormous discounts.
Instead, it tells me we're in a market where pricing precision matters.
A well-priced home in great condition can still attract plenty of attention and may even generate multiple offers.
An overpriced home is much more likely to sit.
And once a home has been on the market for a while, buyers begin asking the inevitable question:
"What's wrong with it?"
Sometimes there's absolutely nothing wrong with the home. The problem was simply the price.
Pricing High "Just to See What Happens" Can Backfire
We understand the temptation.
"Let's start a little high. We can always come down."
Technically, that's true. But there's a downside.
The first days and weeks that a home is on the market are usually when it receives the most attention. That's when buyers who have been waiting for something like your home are most likely to notice it.
If those buyers immediately decide the home is overpriced, you may lose your best opportunity to create competition.
Several weeks later, you reduce the price.
Then perhaps you reduce it again.
Eventually you reach the price buyers were willing to pay all along. But now the listing has accumulated market time and buyers may feel they have even more room to negotiate.
Sometimes the strategy intended to produce a higher sales price does exactly the opposite.
This Isn't Necessarily Bad News for Sellers
This is where we think some perspective is important.
A market in which 74% of homes sell below asking isn't automatically a bad housing market.
It means we're in a more balanced and more discerning market.
Buyers are still buying. Canopy MLS reported strong increases in pending and closed sales across Buncombe County this spring even as inventory increased and homes took longer to sell.
And homeowners shouldn't lose sight of how much values increased over the preceding several years. Zillow's Home Value Index currently puts the typical Buncombe County home value at approximately $458,000. Although that's down 4.4% from a year ago, it doesn't erase the substantial appreciation many longtime homeowners have accumulated.
The market has changed. That isn't the same thing as saying the market has collapsed.
And for Buyers? There's an Opportunity Here.
If you're thinking about buying, today's market offers something buyers haven't consistently had in quite a while:
negotiating power.
That doesn't mean every seller will accept a low offer. And it certainly doesn't mean you should automatically offer 10% below asking on every home you see.
But depending on the property, its condition, how long it has been on the market and the seller's circumstances, there may be opportunities to negotiate on price, repairs, closing costs or other terms.
The important thing is understanding the individual property rather than assuming every listing should be treated the same way.
The Bottom Line
If you're selling a home in Buncombe County today, the market is sending a pretty clear message:
Price matters.
Buyers have more choices, they're watching their budgets carefully, and they're increasingly willing to pass on homes they believe are overpriced.
That doesn't mean sellers need to give their homes away.
It means the strategy that worked a few years ago… putting a home on the market at an aggressive price and waiting for buyers to compete for it - isn't nearly as reliable today.
For sellers, understanding the market before choosing a list price has become more important than ever.
And for buyers, this may be one of the better negotiating environments we've seen in several years.
Whether you're buying, selling or simply trying to understand what your home might be worth in today's market, we're always happy to help you make sense of the numbers.
That's part of guiding people home.
