January is typically one of the calmest months for real estate activity in the North Carolina High Country, – but not in 2018. Home buyers, undeterred by rising mortgage interest rates, remained active in the first month of the new year, with sales in Avery, Ashe and Alleghany counties the best in over a decade. It was the busiest January since 2007, reducing local available inventory to it's lowest level in years.
Additionally, this continued market optimism was reflected in the 2017 sales summary prepared by the National Association of Realtors®, released in late January. The sale of existing homes continued up by 1.1 percent, marking the best year for real estate sales nationally, in over 10 years.