Hi Eddie

I am posting a link below so that you can take a look at the market statistics for Asheville. You may want to compare State to State and city to city as the various markets operate quite independently and differently.

Overall the mood in Real Estate here is becoming much more positive as various incentives are offered to first time buyers, and our 'feeder' markets are beginning to recover.

Hello there! I am working with quite a few first time home buyers that are very excited about the numerous tax credits, grants, etc. that are out there to help them with homeownership. Any activity in the market breathes new life into the area and Asheville continues to be a destination. Folks want to live here and they WILL move here when the markets around the country stabilize. In the meantime, both sellers and buyers are more willing to cooperate to put a deal together. The phones are ringing and inquiries are being made so that indicates to me that we are slowly moving forward toward what will be the new "normal", as Deborah said, "normal" being realistic home values.

The market here is still good. We have slowed in sales but the values of homes are far above most parts of the county such as California, Nevada and Florida. The values have dropped about 9 to 12% and could still be adjusting a little, but you need to remember that the prices are just now getting back to "normal'. The inflated prices of the real estate market over the last 10 to 12 years was induced by the lending leaders of our country and that is why we are in the mess we are in now. Furthermore, remember every market is different there are too many variables that affect the local real estate market.