Ask five people about the Asheville housing market right now and you'll get five different answers. That's because there isn't one market anymore — there are two, running at different speeds. And this week's numbers from Canopy MLS show exactly where the split is.
Let's start with the headline figures for our region: the median sales price sits at $420,500, homes are averaging 71 days on market, and we now have 6.5 months of inventory supply. Anything above six months is traditionally buyer's-market territory — and we're there.
But the number that really caught our attention this week: across Buncombe County, there were 185 price reductions against just 80 closed sales. Sellers are cutting prices at more than double the pace that homes are actually selling. In Black Mountain alone: 159 homes for sale, 7 sold in a week, and 23 price reductions. That's the two-speed market in miniature — a small pool of well-priced homes moving, and a much larger pool chasing the market downward.
If you're selling: the takeaway is blunt. The 185 reductions are what happens when a home is priced for last year's market instead of this week's. Every price cut signals to buyers that the seller is negotiating against themselves. The homes selling right now are the ones priced correctly on day one — they move in weeks, not months. In a 6.5-month-supply market, your list price isn't an opening bid; it's your entire strategy. Get a real, data-driven price opinion before you list, and resist the urge to "test" a higher number. The market is testing you right back.
If you're buying: this is the most leverage you've had in years. Six and a half months of supply means selection. Seventy-one days on market means sellers are getting anxious. And with reductions outpacing sales two-to-one, you can negotiate on price and terms — inspections, appraisal contingencies, closing-cost help — things that would have gotten your offer tossed in 2021. The buyers winning right now aren't overpaying; they're making clean, well-structured offers on homes that have been sitting, and sellers are listening.
The bottom line: averages won't tell you which speed your neighborhood is running at. Micro-data — your street, your price range, your competition this week — will. That's the difference between pricing with confidence and pricing with hope.
If you're thinking about making a move in western North Carolina, let's look at what your specific market segment is doing right now.
