Real Estate Market Update for

Single Family Homes in Mecklenburg County North Carolina Area 4 including:

Charlotte, Matthews. Neighborhoods West of Hwy 74, Indepdendence Blvd. and East of Providence Road including, Grier Heights, Chantilly, Cotswold, Elizabeth, Eastover, Beverly Crest, Sardis Woods, High Timbers, Downtown Matthews, Lansdowne, Providence Plantation, and others.

Data gathered for July 1, 2008 - July 31, 2008

In July 2008, 227 new listings were added to the market.  This was a 5.09% increase of the number of new listings added in July of 2007  and an 8.61% increase over the month prior. 

The number of homes receiving a contract fell to 38.46% from the July the year prior from 130 to 80.  This was also a 21.57% decrease from the month prior.

Sales in area 4 were also down in July 2008 with only 82 homes closing.  This is a 50.3% drop from the year prior when 165 sold and a 27.43% decrease from the month prior.

Sellers received 96.36% of their asking price in July 2008.  This was a minor 1.33% decline in from the year prior and just slightly down over the month prior.

For the listings which went under contract in July 2008, they had been on the market an average of 70 days before receiving an acceptable offer.  This means that it took 37.25% longer to sell a home than the July prior, 1.45% longer than the previous month, 2.99% longer than it did in July 2006, and 12.90% longer than it did in July 2005. 

As has been the trend throughout the Charlotte area, the greater number of homes that are selling are lower priced, skewing this average sold amound.  In July 2008, the average sales price of a home in Area 4 was $352,069, falling 11.23% from the July prior and 1.86 from the month prior.  Averaged out since 2005, prices are still strong.  The average selling price this past July is still 23.12% greater than in July 2006 and 22.99% than it was in July 2005. 

Pressure

It was inevitable that prices would slide ever so slightly in area 4.  When less than 10% of the total number of homes in inventory are selling in a given month, it places pressure on sellers and home prices.  As a result, buyers are picking up excellent deals and sellers who have owned their home for more than three years are still coming out ahead. 

Unlike many of the areas in Charlotte, area 4 (which contains Matthews as well) continued to add record levels of inventory and that's not including the not listed to-be-built builder lots.  So does this mean tough times are ahead for Charlotte and Matthews area 4? 

It means that sellers are going to present their homes in the best possible light, offer buyer incentives, aggressively price their homes, and choose an agent that can market their home.  Also, sellers should expect that if they need to sell by a particular date, they should give themselves ample time to find a buyer and not always assume that their home is the best on the market. 

In the end, Charlotte and Matthews area 4 will continue to remain a very popular place to live and work and sales should recover as the existing inventories sell, withdraw, or expire. 

Jonathan Osman
Charlotte NC Homes, Charlotte Real Estate