Western North Carolina home sales rise as market balances out
592 homes closed in western North Carolina in May, but Buncombe’s $656,761 average sale price still leaves many buyers far from relief.
Canopy Realtors counted 592 homes closed in May across the four-county Asheville area of Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson and Madison counties, a 6.3% increase from May 2025 and a 2.1% gain from April. Pending sales climbed 22.4% year over year to 728 homes under contract, while mortgage rates averaged about 6.5% through the month.
In Buncombe County, Preferred Properties of Asheville’s May data put pending sales at 406, closed sales at 296, inventory at 1,663 homes and days on market at 79, with an average sales price of $656,761.
At that average price, a buyer making a 20% down payment would still face roughly a $3,323 monthly principal-and-interest payment on a 30-year mortgage at 6.5%, before taxes and insurance.
Buncombe County’s population fell to 277,417 in July 2025, about 1,800 fewer people than a year earlier, and the Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care’s 2026 point-in-time count identified 824 people experiencing homelessness in Buncombe County and Asheville. The NC Rural Center identified a housing shortage in Western North Carolina before Hurricane Helene and housing costs rising faster than in the state or the nation.
The county’s Affordable Housing Subcommittee is charged with gathering community input and making housing affordability policy and funding recommendations to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners. In comments to the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, county leaders said they would continue supporting more quality affordable housing in the region while noting Helene’s impact.
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