Watauga County, NC housing market
Data through Aug 2026 · Buyer's market · leverage 80
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Home Value
$505,994
+1.0% vs. a year ago
Buyer Leverage Score
80
Sep 2026
Months of Supply
6.6 months
Aug 2026
Days on Market
87 days
Sep 2026
Price Cut %
25%
Sep 2026
Sale-to-List Ratio
95.8%
Aug 2026
Mtg Payment as % of Income
67%
Aug 2026
Rental Rate
$2,363/mo
Aug 2026
Overvalued %
53%
Aug 2026
Expected Disaster Loss
$117
Dec 2025
What this means
- Valuation. Prices are 53% above what local incomes have historically supported (this area's pre-2020 price-to-income ratio).
- Prices. Home values are up 1.0% over the past year (U.S.: +1.2%).
- Supply. Listings are 52% below the 2017-19 norm and rising (+18% vs. a year ago): still a tight market.
- Negotiating. Buyer leverage is high (80/100; U.S.: 54): homes sell for about 4.2% below their final list price; 25% of listings had a price cut (U.S.: 26%).
- Affordability. A mortgage on the typical home takes 67% of the median household income (U.S.: 35%); it takes about $115k a year to keep the payment at 30% of gross pay. That includes about $1,355 a year for home insurance (U.S.: $1,790).
- Buy vs. rent. Buying costs about $516/mo more than renting a typical home (mortgage payment vs. typical rent).
- Disaster risk. FEMA expects about $117 a year in natural-disaster damage per $100k of building value (U.S.: $155), mostly from flooding.
- Outlook. Leaning up: likely −6% to +11% over the next 12 months (72% chance of a rise).
Next 12 months
Leaning up
Prices are more likely to rise than fall over the next year. Likely change: −5.9% to +10.5% (80% range; middle estimate +3.6%), chance of a rise 72%, of a 5%+ drop 11%.
HouseVane's model, refit every month on local market signals and national ones, trained only on data known at the time. How accurate it has been.
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ZIP codes in Watauga County, NC
| Area | Home value | 1-year change | Buyer leverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boone, NC 28607 | $490.5K | +0.7% | 76 |
| Banner Elk, NC 28604 | $489.3K | −0.3% | 87 |
| Vilas, NC 28692 | $420.3K | +1.2% | 73 |
| Blowing Rock, NC 28605 | $770.9K | +4.4% | 66 |
| Vilas, NC 28679 | $402.7K | +0.3% | 96 |
| Zionville, NC 28698 | $340K | −1.0% | 50 |
| Deep Gap, NC 28618 | $394.9K | +0.1% | 73 |