How's Charlotte's real estate market? Everywhere you turn there's talk about "the market", how "the market" is doing, whether it's a "buyer's market" or "seller's market". All of this shares one common theme and that is market activity.
A market is never "good" or "bad". The market just is. It's the application and interpretation of market data with regard to a specific house, neighborhood, area, or specific needs and goals of a given buyer or seller that really gives an insight into how the market applies to a situation.
With all that being said, let's take a look back at Charlotte NC's market activity since January 2007. Below is the monthly history of new listings, under contract listings, and sold listings for single family homes in Mecklenburg County (includes Charlotte, Pineville, Huntersville, Davidson, Cornelius, Mint Hill and Matthews).
Kind of interesting isn't it? The blue bars indicate New Listings, which actually followed a seasonal springtime peak, declined in number through December then took a big jump in January of this year - actually more of a springtime amount of listings than would be expected in January.
Then looking at Under Contract numbers (the red bars), those also followed a seasonal flow, and showed an increase in January of this year. This is the most forward looking indicator - contracts lead to closed sales but it takes some time for the closed data to reflect new contracts.
Finally looking at Solds (the orange bars), that number tends to lag a bit behind the Under Contract number, and also shows a seasonal activity peak but slightly later in the year than the Under Contract numbers.
OK, so what does any of this mean?
Sellers: Sorry to tell you this but your house isn't the only option buyers are looking at.
#1. Know your competition.
#2. Price, condition, the "wow" factor are crucial. If your house doesn't stand out to buyers, they'll move along to the next one.
#3. The listings that are priced well, are move-in ready, and offer buyers updated/neutral/upgraded features are going to sell so take the time to maximize your home's appeal before it's listed.
Buyers: Look at the data - you have options, there's no question.
#1. Right now you have the luxury of having an increase in potential homes that may meet your needs/wants/desires.
#2. However, you also need to remember that the homes priced well, offering appealing features are also going to appeal to other buyers.
#3. Pre-approval is key. Many sellers are now getting much more serious about making sure a buyer is truly qualified, show the sellers you've started the loan application process and you'll become much more attractive to a seller.
#4 This may be the most important - mortgage rates are at incredible levels right now, no one can predict when that will change, this is an awesome time to take advantage of the current mortgage opportunities, and yes they do exist.
One other factor I do feel deserves mention is the buyer pool. There's no easy way to quantify how many serious buyers are currently searching, so what follows is my opinion: Charlotte in recent years has become a popular relocation destination, and therefore Charlotte's buyer pool is actually impacted by other markets. When buyers want to buy in Charlotte but can't sell a home elsewhere, many times they're forced to put a Charlotte purchase on hold - this is (again my opinion) one of the more elusive influences impacting Charlotte's market activity.
It's difficult to drill down to data on how many buyers are dependent on selling elsewhere before buying here, but just from my own experience, it is definitely a factor that impacts our market, even if that impact is indirect and sometimes less obvious.
Diane McDermott
Real Estate Broker, REALTOR®
Diane@southcharlottespecialist.com
704-516-3691
www.e2realestateteam.com
e2 Real Estate Team, Banks Calkins Real Estate Inc.
"Exceeding Expectations"
*Statistics based on data from Carolina Multiple Listing Service Inc. for January 2007-January 2008, mls areas 1-9. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed*
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