While the talk around the nation has been decidedly bad regarding home prices, the Charlotte area, which includes Charlotte, Gastonia, and Concord just posted the largest increase median value increase in the south. The median house price rose to $220,000, up 11% for single family homes in the third quarter. The second highest increase was Baumont - Port Arthur Texas.
Unfortunately, don't look for this to be reported on the cover of USA Today or the Wall Street Journal. Instead, you will probably read - US MEDIAN HOME PRICES DOWN 2%. I don't even think the Charlotte Observer ran the story. But this is great news, but news we've already known.
As a local real estate professional, I expect this trend to continue for three reasons. First, people are still overwhelming moving to the Charlotte area. At last count, the conservative estimate was around 50,000 a year (enough to fill Bank of America Stadium). Second, our job market is strong. While the loss of some upper income wealth management jobs will not help our economy, the overall unemployment rate remains low. Finally, the number of foreclosures in the Charlotte area are relatively low. The foreclosure market has also helped some first time buyers enter the market at some unbelievable prices. The upper end foreclosure market, dominated by speculators, represent a small number of homes and have not hurt our market very much at all.
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