Is the Charlotte metro real estate market now a Seller's Market? Home prices keep going up. Inventory of available homes keeps going down. Sellers are getting a higher percentage of their asking price. In many areas of Charlotte home inventory is down to less than months months. With so few months of inventory, we can certainly consider ourselves to be in a Seller's Market.
Here's a brief recap of sales trends year-to-date as of November 30, 2012:
- Pending sales: +32.3%
- Closed sales: +20.5%
- Days on market: -8%
- Average list price: +2%
- Average sale price: +3.8%
- % of original list price received: +3%
- Housing Affordability Index: +2.1%
Mecklenburg County, Charlotte metro area's largest, most populous county has officially become a Seller's Market with just 3.8 months of housing inventory. (Compare this to 8.7 months in November 2011). And parts of south Charlotte are down to 3.6 months of inventory. Days on market are down 16.5%.
Union County, which is adjacent to Charlotte/Mecklenburg and one of the fastest growing areas of our metro area is not quite yet in a Seller's Market with 5.3 months of housing inventory, but this is down from 9.7 months in November 2011. And days on market in Union County are down almost 21%.
York County, South Carolina, just over the border of Charlotte also shows hugely improving numbers. Like Union County, it's not yet quite a Seller's Market with 5.7 months of inventory, but the inventory is down from 10 months just one year ago. And York County's days on market are also down dramatically--almost 19%.
So while Union and York Counties are not quite Seller's Markets as yet, they are no longer Buyer's Markets either. So home buyers take note: there are fewer houses to see; houses will cost more; you have less negotiating leverage than you did a year ago or even a few months ago. Now is the time to buy before it all costs you more! November was the 13th straight month of rising home prices according to Zillow.
And what can we expect in 2013? Well, the Wall Street Journal has recently said that JP Morgan has predicted that home prices could actually jump 9.7% in the coming year.
Whether you are a Charlotte home buyer or a Charlotte home seller in 2013, Carolinas Realty Partners can help you stay on top of market trends and conditions.
Is the Charlotte metro real estate market now a Seller's Market? In many parts of the area, yes it is. In others, it's getting there quickly!
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