Avery County realtor sees rocky path ahead for post-Helene housing market

Michelle Griffin is a realtor based in Banner Elk. She’s seen the area’s housing market shift in real-time after Helene. 

After witnessing hundreds of houses washed away or damaged beyond recognition, Griffin says spooked buyers and sellers have been calling her to rid themselves of what were once dream homes. 

Even going into mid-December, she says clients looking for the area’s most coveted real estate have all but disappeared. 

"I used to get calls every day of people wanting something by the river or with a creek on it," Griffin said. "I’ve had I think one call since this hurricane. I think what people do know about the disaster has changed the way they want to shop for something up here."

Forty-five percent of Avery County homes are only lived in seasonally. 

In it for the long haul

For lifelong and full-time residents who refuse to leave and whose houses were damaged, things are more complicated.

"You know, a lot of those houses, volunteers came in and tried to help people rebuild and some things were done without permits and things like that," Griffin said. "From a real estate perspective, it’s gonna, for years, be thinking about these things."

In a more personal capacity, Griffin has been working to connect homeowners with legal aid organizations like Pisgah Legal Services and the North Carolina Bar Foundation.

She knows for those that lost everything, rebuilding will take a lifetime’s worth of savings. 

"There’s so many people here who lost their property and the horrific things that happened with them losing family members, they never want to go back to the property and then they still have a mortgage to pay on a house that floated down the river," Griffin said.  

Though it hasn’t happened a lot, Griffin said she has received calls from people trying to take advantage of what quickly turned into a buyer’s market following the flooding. 

She says she’s turned down that business, calling it unethical and not worth doing. 

The North Carolina government estimates approximately 126,000 houses across the state were damaged due to Helene. 

Santiago Ochoa covers healthcare for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. Follow him on X and Instagram: @santi8a98