Charlotte Real Estate Market – January 2012 Report

Homes for sale in the Charlotte real estate market in January for the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill Metro Area numbered 17,305 as of 1/31/2012. The average sales price was $187,785, or 90.2% of the list price, which is $186 (yes, you read that correctly!) or -.1% lower than the average sales price at the same time last year. The average amount of time on the residential market for Charlotte real estate is 5.16 months, virtually unchanged from 2011. While we would prefer this indicator would decrease, we can at least celebrate the fact that it's not getting bigger.

Like a beautiful coma patient on a daytime soap opera, the Charlotte real estate market is coming back to life. The big news, of course, is the strong trend showing a reduction in the number of homes for sale. Last year at this time, we had 22,647, so we're looking at a -23.6% reduction in inventory. That backlog has been one of the biggest concerns for some time, so this significant and ongoing reduction is a very positive sign.

In addition to that welcome news is the gradual stabilization of the average home price, which has been zig-zagging the past few years, but is finally showing less volatility. The decrease of -.1% indicates the return of sanity to the market.

The fact remains that it's still a buyer's market out there, making the Charlotte real estate market a great investment for Charlotte home buyers.