Wow, what a year!  After a significant drop in closed sales in November, we actually had a pretty strong December when compared not only with November 2008 but with December 2007.  And, we in the Lake Norman area were not alone.  December seemed to be a better month for communities all over the country.  Speculation is that the drop in interest rates bumped the sales up.  It is hard to know how long this bump will last but it's sure nice to have some halfway good news to report! 

 

Active Listings:  The good news is that our number of active listings is still dropping. However, at a 24.6 months of supply of active listings if we continued at our current sales rates, we still have a serious surplus of listings.  Remember that a balanced real estate market should have between 6-10 months of supply.

Contingent Sales:  This number is identical to our November contingent sales.

Conditional Sales:  This number is down from 22 in November or a decrease of 23%

Pending Listings Sales:  At the end of November we had 74 pending sales.  At 55 in December, pending sales have dropped 26%.  Since these are the homes most likely to close in January this is a sign that our January closed sales will be down.

Closed Sales:  Compared to our dismal 46 sales in November, we actually had a 24% Increase in the number of homes sold!

 

2008 Lake Norman Home Sales Summary

 

  2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
October 66 98 117 184 129
November  46 84 88 145 132
December  62 64 132 134 137
January 69 87 102 105 70
February 50 105 98 88 74
March 71 151 153 136 124
April 90 120 143 152 115
May 90 152 182 157 176
June 82 169 227 172 184
July 101 147 166 191 187
August 74 144 180 233 181
September 69 105 135 163 133
Totals: 916 1492 1743 1860 1642

* Please note that all of my numbers come from the Charlotte Region Multiple Listing Service and will not include sales that took place outside of our MLS.

**While my totals on this chart for 2008 sales is 870, when I search on our MLS for the entire year they give me a slightly higher number of 916 so I will use that as our official number for the sake of this analysis.

 

The number of homes sales in Lake Norman in 2008 dropped 38.6% compared to 2007.  This compares to an overall drop in the entire Charlotte Regional MLS area of 29.5%. 

Summary:  There is no doubt that 2008 was a very difficult year for Lake Norman home sellers, both builders and resale homes.   In my opinion, the key to a true sign that the worst is behind us in the Lake Norman real estate market will come only when our inventory of homes for sale, both new construction and resale, drops to about 10 months of supply.  This will happen with some combination of a significant increase in the number of home sales and a consequent decrease in the number of active listings.

 

RELATED ARTICLES

Lake Norman Real Estate: November Sales...Oh my!

Lake Norman Real Estate: A Reality Check

 
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4 Comments on Lake Norman Real Estate: December 2008 Market Report

JAN
04
2009
874,720 Points 154 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Hit Router Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Good report interesting. Like most area's we will come back as the inventory goes down.
10:44am • #1
1,586,126 Points 430 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Interesting statistics, Diane. Things are clearly still in flux buit with some positive changes. It is an odd time with the holidays, which are usually slower, but with the best rates we have seen in some time. Will be interesting to see what happens for January and February, which is when the properties than went under contract in December will close.

Jeff
11:01am • #2
131,525 Points Outside Blog

You cannot knock the facts. Well, here is to a great 2009 for us.
3:18pm • #3
JAN
05
2009
284,851 Points 37 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog

Missy:  That is waht we expect, but I wonder how long it will take and how many price reductions?

Jeff:  Yes, I think this may be a bounce due to the interest rates but I fear we will not get our usual spring bounce this year....too much inventory and prices still to high.

Susan:  True, here is to a great 2009!
3:38pm • #4


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