Look anywhere in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee and you will see plenty of cabins for sale, new developments being built and land for sale. While many who own property which is "for sale by owner and real estate agents and brokers are complaining about how soft the real estate market in the Smokies Mountains is, the national market is by far worse.
Lower taxes, temperate weather, affordable insurance and the beauty of the Smokies attract many new residents and keep existing residents in the North Carolina and Tennessee Smoky Mountains.
One of the issues that are affecting the real estate market here is the massive real estate downturn elsewhere and what affects the local real estate market here directly impacts construction companies in the Smoky Mountains as well.
An example of how much more resilient this real estate market is that for the first 3 quarters of 2007 sales when compared to 2006 sales 10 counties surrounding the city of Asheville North Carolina are only down slightly less than 2.5% while nationwide sales are down as much as 25%. For the month of October Construction of single family homes across the nation is at the lowest level for the past 16 years.
There are plenty of existing homes and residential rentals already in inventory and as a result new construction is effected but the construction on the higher end custom homes appears to be holding its own.
Two of the biggest problems real estate agents, builders and For Sale By Owners in the Smoky Mountains are finding is that prospective home buyers have credit and liquidity issues. People looking to move into the Smokies are unable to unload residences in other regions of the country or feel as though the offers they are getting are too low to accept. Often a home buyer's equity in their existing home is drying up with lowered house real estate values.
Banks and mortgage brokers were stumbling over themselves for years trying to give credit whenever and wherever possible - often in cases where any downturn in the market would make mortgagees unable to meet their obligations.
So what is one to do when it comes to buying or selling real estate in the Smoky Mountains?
Right now it is still a buyers market in the Smokies and elsewhere in the nation. If you have the capital and can obtain credit you won't see prices much lower if at all. If you wait for prices to come down, you may run into and issue with even more stringent credit approval requirements in the future.
For anyone looking to sell real estate in the Smoky Mountains, you are in better shape than most areas of the country but you still have your work cut out for you. While many choose to go it their own with the For Sale By Owner route get professional advice at what your home or property for sale is really worth in today's market and be realistic.
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