Real estate in Murphy NC, as for most of the United States, is a high topic of conversation. Whether it’s about an individual home or land or the prices of them, you can expect to hear about it at any local hangout. Now, most folks don’t walk around and openly say, "my home is worth a gajillion dollars," but they do watch what’s selling and for sale in their neighborhood.

So it’s natural to wonder, "What’s happened to my property value over the last few years?"

Since Murphy, NC doesn’t have subdivisions with 100’s of the exact same house, it’s difficult to track a definite percentage of how much our market has adjusted. Fortunately, there’s still a good way to calculate it based on a popular style of houses. Like most areas, we do have a popular style. And nope, it’s not stucco, brick, or any of the common houses you see in primary markets. We have a popular home style called the chalet.

Because we have many chalets for sale and in turn help families buy a lot of them, we can get a rough idea of what the market has done. Without a doubt, these numbers will not apply to every home - especially unique ones. This is intended to give you a benchmark.

*Based on an average of all 2/2 chalets on a basement sold in Cherokee County in the given year as sold across the Mountain Lakes Board of Realtors®. You can view more market statistics on our Murphy NC State of the Market Reports.

Are you considering selling and want to know what this data means for your individual property? Contact your local Cherokee County Realtor® for a free market analysis to interpret what your home is now worth. If you’d like us to research it for you, please feel free to call us or use our FREE Online "What’s My Home Worth?" form. 

Are you considering buying and want to find the best buy on the market? Be sure to contact a local Realtor®. They’re the ones living and breathing real estate and you should rely on their expertise. You can also call us to find your new property or use our FREE Online "Find My Dream Home!" form.

Written By: John Poltrock, your Cherokee County Certified Residential Specialist - www.MyMurphy.com - Call Toll Free (866) 687-7496 and demand The POLTROCK TEAM! - Real Estate in the Mountains of Murphy, North Carolina - Email me at JohnPoltrock@gmail.com - RE/MAX Mountain Properties

*Watch for this article in the upcoming issue of the Cherokee Scout’s Country Roads, which is the *new* real estate section of Cherokee County’s newspaper. Be sure to subscribe to the Scout newspaper and have it delivered at your home for 38 cents per week!

It’s been a while since the last market report, and its time for a new one! The market has remained incredibly stable with little to no changes in numbers. We’ll have a quick uptick followed by a leveling back to previous transaction amounts. There are some outstanding values in homes on the market right now, and watching them on the market has been quite interesting.

As far as straight numbers for the Cherokee County marketplace across the Mountain Lakes Board of Realtors, here they are:

Residential

• 15 Homes have sold in the last month - that’s one every other day!
• There are an astounding 908 opportunities to buy a home on the market currently
• $165,247 is the average sales price over the past month
• 94.5% is the average list to sell ratio (think: on average, if you have a $100,000 house, it would sell for $94,500.)
• $300,000 is the highest sales price in the past month
• 212 Days on market - the current average time to sell your home in Murphy, NC

Land

• 10 Parcels of land have sold int he past month
• 2,669 total opportunities to buy land on the market currently 
• $42,700 is the average selling price of land
• 85.47% is the average list to sell ratio
• 413 days is the average time on the market for land

Land has been a particularly interesting case because there are usually 50% more transactions than homes, yet now, it’s that much lower. Quite the switch! Based on the research I’ve done, it largely seems due to the great home values on the market. Many people are skipping the building process and going straight for buying a home because they can buy now for less money than they can build.

Are you considering selling your home and want to find what all this means to you? Find the value of your home in Murphy, NC by completing this form and we will evaluate your home for free!

Want to find all the great home values we’re talking about? Let us find your dream home in Murphy, NC for you! You’re also welcome to email me.

John Poltrock, your Murphy NC Certified Residential Specialist

Call Toll-Free 1-866-687-7496 and demand The POLTROCK TEAM!!  www.MyMurphy.com - Homes and Land for Sale in the Mountains of Murphy, NC - RE/MAX Mountain Properties

You can read our Previous "State of the Market Addresses" Murphy NC Real Estate Market Reports by clicking the link.

So far this year, we have been in the seasonal slow-down that affects our market mostly in January, February, March, and the beginning of April. With that said, sales traditionally drop to half or less of what the normal season is.

This year is no different than any other. The sales in all of Cherokee County (including Murphy, Andrews, Ranger, Hiwassee Dam, Hanging Dog, Marble, and other communities in Cherokee) have taken a toll, but have seen a 31% increase since the beginning of January - not bad when it’s 31 degrees outside today! 

Here are some market numbers that you would want to know. If you have any questions as to the meaning of these numbers, please feel free to ask.

• These numbers are over the past month
  • 21 Homes have closed
  • $60,000 - Lowest residential sale
  • $155,000 - Average residential sale
  • 245,000 - Highest residential sale
  • 90.15% - Average list to sell ratio
  • 203 - Average days on the market
• These number are averaged out over the past 4 months to show a "trailing" average
  • 26.5 Homes have closed
  • $187,020 - Average Residential Sale
  • 93.28% - Average list to sell ratio
  • 219 - Average days on market
• These numbers are for land over the past month - this includes everything from lots to large acreage
  • 21 Land tracts have closed
  • $74,805 - Average land sale
  • 79.9% Average list to sale ratio
  • 213 - Average days on market

These numbers will become more and more useful - especially when they are reviewed from a quarterly and greater basis.

How does this relate to you, your property, and your plans? Ask! Tell us your situation and we will be happy to translate these raw numbers to what they will mean in your particular situation. Then when you’re ready, list with the best and you’ll sell before the rest!

John and Jessica Poltrock - The POLTROCK TEAM at RE/MAX of Murphy NC - Real Estate in the mountains of Murphy, NC - www.MyMurphy.com - JohnPoltrock@gmail.com - Call (877) 837-3002 and demand the POLTROCK TEAM!

It’s been some time since I’ve done a market update on the Cherokee County (Murphy and Andrews) real estate market because the market has been staying so incredibly stable. Now with January past us, I can report on the typical seasonal cycle of the market.

Historically, the market is relatively calm during January, February, and March. We’ll see an it trend back up to normal around the middle of April. With all that said, here’s some hard numbers that are great to go with! Remember - these numbers can be difficult to translate to your particular situation, so the advice of a professional is recommended (namely The POLTROCK TEAM!) to interpret them.

Numbers for the Past Month

• Total Homes to close: 14
• Total Land to close: 28
• Average Home Price: $194,029
• Average List to Sell Ratio: 91.95%
• Average Days on Market: 226
• Most Active Price Point: $150,000 - $200,000 (representing half the transactions)
• Average Land Price: $39,532
• Average Land Days on Market: 170
• Homes currently Pending: 94
• Land currently Pending: 203

Our market seasonally dips down during this time of year, so don’t expect a lot of showing activity during the cold months! Stay home, stay warm, and keep your place clean! Fact is, even though you might not be getting a lot of showings on your house, the buyers out there shopping this time of year are typically more qualified and more motivated to buy. Why? Maybe because they don’t want to stay out in the cold!

Those of you who are looking to buy homes and land, now is the perfect time! If you can make it our way, you don’t have a lot of “competition” this time of year. In other words - you probably won’t have to worry about someone slipping in and buying your dream home! Not only that, sellers are commonly more negotiable during this time of year because the activity on their property slows down.

John and Jessica Poltrock - Homes and Land in the Mountains of North Carolina - Real Estate by the POLTROCK TEAM at Murphy, NC - (877) 837-3002 - www.MyMurphy.com - JohnPoltrock@gmail.com

Now here’s something quite interesting. Here’s the data for the past month only:

The variance in the 4 month trailing versus the 1 month numbers indicate we’re seeing more property move for the last month. That’s obvious. What is interesting is the DOM is much higher indicating we’re going to see that continue to get longer. Also, the List to sell ratio is over a full point lower. That generally shows me that more buyers are “fishing” for good deals (why transactions are up) and in some cases are getting it (which is why the L/S ratio is lower).

Either way, numbers are power! Want to know how this applies to your property or one that you are considering buying? Call us or email and we would be happy to provide you a free consultation to translate all this information to your situation. Happy buying and selling!

John Michael Poltrock - REMAX Mountain Properties - Real Estate in Murphy North Carolina, NC - www.MyMurphy.com -JohnP@remax.net - (877) 837-3002 - Copyright 2007

What does all this mean? You can relate it specifically to your home or land that you own when you look to sell it. This data can be difficult to translate to your specific property. If you are looking to sell, a site visit by one of us would be most appropriate. We would be happy to consult with you on this. Please contact us be email or phone.

John Poltrock - RE/MAX Mountain Properties - Murphy, NC - www.MyMurphy.com - JohnP@remax.net - (877) 837-3002

*Note* This data was compiled on July 26th, 2007 and used the 4 month trailing data from that day.

The President is required to give a State of the Union Address, and it’s interesting to think that even something as local as a real estate market deserves such an "address."

Murphy, North Carolina has long been a second home market and will continue to be so. With amazing natural beauty, more than 93,000 acres of US Forest Service, mountain views, and much more, it’s allure runs nationwide. There’s property owners from here all the way to California.

Cherokee County saw 140 transactions in May, all of which came with some monetary consideration. This figure does not include inheritances, give-a-ways, or any of the such. Of that 140, 47 were houses and 94 were land. That’s a great figure averaging out to 1.51 houses and 3 land sales per day. 32 of the homes and 28 pieces of land were handled through the Mountain Lakes Board of Realtors.

Great! Now what does all that mean? Just like the Dow Jones, our transactions vary from month to month. We see a positive uptrend of 9.4% from the month of April.

As the first installment of the "State of the Market," we hope to continue this service and give you valueable data of our market. As financial planning majors, trends mean a lot to us and we’d like to bring them straight to you!