The Southern Highland Reader

FRANKLIN–Citing the current economic downturn and resulting instability in the real estate market, Macon County tax assessor Richard Lightner asked the county’s board of commissioners to postpone property revaluations for two years. They agreed, in a unanimous vote.

Read Colin McCandless’s story for the Franklin Press here.

Here’s a quote from Lightner:

“The market’s real unstable right now,” Lightner said. “There’s a lot of stuff listed for sale. Sales are slower than in the past. So you really just don’t have the marketability.

“Basically, the numbers say we shouldn’t do a reval right now.”

REGIONAL–The Hendersonville Times News, along with the Knoxville News Sentinel, have followed closely 11th District Congressman Heath Shuler’s real estate misadventure involving the TVA in east Tennessee.

The Times News warned early on that even the appearance of influence-peddling in real estate matters would recall memories of Shuler’s predecessor, Republican Charles Taylor.

In a Friday editorial, the Times News “wraps the thing up neatly, and says Shuler’s damage in this case is self-inflicted.

Here’s the lead:

KNOXVILLE–The Knoxville News Sentinel’s Josh Flory has closely followed the controversy surrounding 11th District Congressman Heath Shuler’s real estate dealings and contacts with the Tennessee Valley Authority, and has reported new information.

Shuler was cleared of ethical misconduct allegations last week by the house ethics committee, but a new report seems to contradict Shuler’s assertion that he did not contact the TVA to exert influence in what amounted to a personal business matter.

Read Flory’s post here. See more posts about this story in the left hand column.

SYLVA–The forecast remains cloudy for Balsam Mountain Preserve, a 4,400-acre gated community near Sylva, after a foreclosure hearing for the property was continued for a month last Friday.

Jackson County Clerk of Court Ann Melton continued the hearing until November 30 at the request of Balsam Mountain Preserve attorney Jay Coward, and over the protests of the Asheville-based attorney for lender TriLyn, according to the Sylva Herald.

TriLyn, a Connecticut-based venture capital firm with connections to the Bank of Scotland and the middle eastern concern Investcorp, argues that Balsam Mountain Preserve has had over a year to address its now $21 million dollar debt to TriLyn, and seeks to foreclose.

Rumor has it that TriLyn officials have a relationship with the owners of the similarly high-end Cliffs Communities, and that the Cliffs Communities might be interested in acquiring the Balsam property. The Balsam Mountain Preserve is owned and was created by Chaffin/Light Associates of South Carolina.

Meanwhile, the Smoky Mountain News reports that a buyout offer from current homeowners on the Preserve is gaining steam.

The recent economic downturn has had a marked impact on the substantial mountain second-home market, and numerous planned or newly-minted gated communities have given up the ghost. But Balsam Mountain Preserve was begun nearly a decade ago, its amenities are mostly in place and over half of its lots are sold.

The Preserve’s recent layoff of about half of its 80-plus person workforce was a significant economic blow to northern Jackson County.

Should the Cliffs Communities appear on the scene in Balsam, one storyline will have come full circle: Balsam Mountain Preserve’s first president was named Jim Anthony, and the CEO of the Cliffs Communities is also named Jim Anthony. When Balsam Mountain Preserve was fresh out of the gates, nearly a decade ago, the Cliffs was involved in a land acquisition controversy in Transylvania County and the dual high-profile names were the source of considerable confusion.

HIGHLANDS–The Atlanta Journal Constitution painted a technicolor picture on Tuesday of the mountain luxury home market.

Reporter Jeffry Scott’s lead:

The bidders came dressed like money on vacation, in polo shirts, sneakers, shorts, loafers without socks and khaki slacks. One wore a flowery print beach shirt; another, a straw cowboy hat, cowboy boots, black jeans and a snake skin jacket.

Into this crowd, the owner of a $4.8 million mountainside luxury second home, cast his plight. And, if you had to guess, you’re probably right. He didn’t get his $4.8 million. He got barely more than half that — $2.45 million.

In a lengthy story for the business section, Scott goes on to give a detailed description of the sluggish high-end real estate market in Highlands and Atlanta, and to make clear how some owners of these properties are turning to simple absolute auction.

Another clip:

Owners of multi-million-dollar estates and second homes built during the boom years who are trying to unload the homes now are watching as they languish, overpriced and unsold, on the market, sometimes for years, then resorting to the last resort: absolute auctions.

In an absolute auction there’s no minimum bid and the seller can’t pull out because the top bid is too low. Three bangs of the gavel and it’s gone. Half of what you hoped for? Tough.

Read the entire piece here.

REGIONAL–The Asheville Citizen-Times’ Mark Barrett writes that while the value of all homes in western North Carolina has dropped, the high end is suffering most.

An excerpt:

The slow sales pace of expensive homes is not for a lack of properties on the market. There were 280 single-family homes listed for sale at $1 million or more at the end of August, according to figures from local Realtor Scott Raines. That’s more than a nine-year supply at current sales rates, a little less than it was earlier in the year but still far above what experts consider to be equilibrium. The median price of an existing home sold in Buncombe County fell from $225,000 in August 2008 to $187,000 in August of this year, according to the N.C. Mountains Multiple Listing Service. People in the industry say the federal first-time homebuyer tax credit has brought many buyers looking for less expensive homes into the market, a shift that accounts for at least some of the decline.

Read the whole piece here.