| Good Monday morning from the mountains — |
| Early September in Asheville usually means the summer rush is winding down, the traffic on Merrimon thins out a little, and the market shifts into a different gear. This week we have some genuinely useful local numbers to share, plus a few things on rates and buyer strategy worth knowing before the leaves turn. Nothing alarming, but a couple of things worth reading before you close the tab. |
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By the numbers
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$525K
Asheville median sale price, spring 2026
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726
Asheville-area closings in June 2026
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162,000
U.S. jobs added in August
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IN THIS ISSUE
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1
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Asheville Inventory Is the Highest It's Been in Years — Here's What That Actually Means |
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2
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A Strong Jobs Report, and Mortgage Rates Barely Moved — Here's Why |
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3
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New Listings Are at a Four-Year High — and Sellers Are Starting to Negotiate |
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4
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Before You Raid Your 401(k) for a Down Payment, Read the Fine Print |
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The lead · LOCAL MARKET
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Asheville Inventory Is the Highest It's Been in Years — Here's What That Actually Means
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| Asheville's days on market hit their highest second-quarter level since 2015, and inventory climbed above the past four years across nearly every price range. |
| According to Mosaic Realty's Q2 2026 analysis, this is a meaningful shift — not a crash, but a real loosening of a market that was historically tight. The average home value in Asheville came in at $462,044 as of July 31, per Zillow, down 3.2% over the past year, while Redfin's three-month median through June held at $525,000, essentially flat year-over-year. Those two figures aren't contradictory; they're measuring different slices of the same market finding its new level. |
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Why it matters: If you've been thinking about selling, you still have buyers — June 2026 saw 726 closings in the Asheville MSA, up from 587 a year earlier — but pricing precisely matters more now than it has in a long time, and that's worth a conversation before you list.
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Read at Mosaic Realty, Q2 2026 →
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RATE WATCH
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A Strong Jobs Report, and Mortgage Rates Barely Moved — Here's Why
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| August payrolls came in at 162,000 new jobs, slightly above expectations, which nudged up the odds of a Fed rate hike in September — but mortgage rates didn't spike the way you might expect. |
| HousingWire explains that bond markets had already priced in a decent jobs number, so the headline didn't move the needle much. The real catalyst to watch is the CPI inflation report due next week; that data will carry far more weight than the jobs figure in determining where rates go from here. For anyone locking a rate right now, this is a moment to stay in close contact with your lender rather than assume the coast is clear. |
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Why it matters: Rates are sitting at a level where a single inflation print can shift your monthly payment by a real amount, so if you're under contract or about to be, ask your lender today what your lock options look like.
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Read at HousingWire, 2026-09-04 →
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BUYER INTEL
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New Listings Are at a Four-Year High — and Sellers Are Starting to Negotiate
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| Nationally, new listings just hit their highest level in four years, and at the same time, more sellers are cutting prices to close the gap with buyers. |
| Redfin's data shows pending home sales fell to their lowest point since February, meaning buyers aren't exactly stampeding even as more homes come available. That combination — more supply, slower demand — is giving buyers real negotiating room in many markets. Locally, we're seeing some of that same dynamic, particularly in the upper price ranges where inventory has climbed the most. |
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Why it matters: If you've been sitting on the sidelines because everything felt picked over and non-negotiable, the fall window is shaping up to be a better entry point than most of the past three years.
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Read at Redfin, 2026-09-04 →
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MONEY MOVES
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Before You Raid Your 401(k) for a Down Payment, Read the Fine Print
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| With down payments still a stretch for many buyers, the idea of tapping retirement savings has been floating around — but the costs are steeper than the headlines suggest. |
| Keeping Current Matters walks through the real math: early withdrawals typically trigger income taxes plus a 10% penalty, and you lose the compounding growth on whatever you pull out. There are limited exceptions — first-time buyer provisions and loan-against-your-plan options — but each comes with its own rules and risks. This is one of those decisions where talking to a CPA before your agent is the right order of operations. |
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Why it matters: The down payment is only part of the financial picture; depleting retirement savings to get there can cost you more in the long run than waiting another cycle to buy.
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Read at Keeping Current Matters, 2026-08-31 →
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Quick hits
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• Investor purchases of single-family homes fell to 27% of all buys in Q2 2026 — about 40,000 fewer than a year ago — which means regular buyers are competing against fewer cash investors than they were in 2025. (Cotality via HousingWire) →
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• Newly built homes are currently priced at or below resale homes in many markets — if you've automatically ruled out new construction because of cost, it may be worth a second look. (Keeping Current Matters) →
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Tip of the week
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Pull Your Listing's Days-on-Market History Before You Price It
Before settling on an asking price, ask your agent to pull the average days on market for homes that actually closed in your neighborhood over the last 90 days — not just what's active right now. In a market where Asheville-area homes are taking around 60-66 days to go under contract, a price that sits for 90 days without an offer isn't just costing you time; it's signaling to buyers that something is wrong, even when nothing is. The right price from day one keeps you out of that spiral.
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How was this issue?
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Until next week,
Priya, broker-in-charge
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| P.S. If you want a no-pressure look at what your home is worth in this specific market — not a Zestimate, an actual analysis — just reply to this email and we'll put one together for you. |