Temperate is in the eye of the beholder :-) Pretty hot and humid in summer for my taste. That said, Asheville in particular often gets pretty highly ranked among small cities to live in and it's probably more comfortable in the summer than many other locations in the state.
In general, there's probably a fairly high correlation between places that are more pleasant to live in (across multiple dimensions) and housing prices. Jobs, of course, being another major factor.
