What do you need to know about real estate in Asheville? Buying a home in this North Carolina city requires knowing a little about many parts of life.
How are the values of the houses?
Homes tend to hold their value better in this city than in the entire state. During the last housing crash, for example, home prices actually stayed fairly flat instead of falling sharply like in many cities across the state and across the country. Additionally, home prices tend to be tens of thousands of dollars higher than the state average.
How are the houses?
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, about 200 square feet less than the US median.
That’s not to say there isn’t a good selection of newer and larger homes available. About 10 percent of the city’s real estate has been built since 2000, so there are still plenty of new homes on the market.
How are the schools?
If you’re moving a young family, you’ll definitely want to know about the city’s school system. There are many well-ranked elementary and high schools in Asheville, with many of the private schools receiving top reviews.
What is living like?
The cost of living is lower in Asheville than on average in the United States. According to the 2008 Cost of Living Index, Asheville has a reading of 91.3, while the US average is 100. If you make a decent income while living there, that can mean life is a bit more expensive. easy to pay than other places. Keep in mind, however, that as of the 2000 census, the median income was nearly $8,000 less than the state median.
One thing to consider is that crime rates tend to be a bit higher than the state average.
Outside of crime data, it can be reassuring to know that temperatures in the city stay in a fairly mild range year-round, though it’s wetter 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 US average.
Once you’ve decided this is the city for you, local real estate agents can be some of your best resources for determining where and when to buy.
