In an unusual turn for September, year-over-year home sales in the Charlotte region rose in September, and the strong seller’s market continues to prevail across the region despite challenging inventory levels.
Sales were up 8.3 percent in September from year-ago figures, with a total of 4,612 sales closed in September, according to the most recent market report from the Charlotte Regional Realtors Association.
Monthly sales dropped 12.1 percent from August, which is typical as the Summer selling season winds down. Year-to-date home sales were up 3.1 percent compared to the same nine months in 2018. Market inventory of homes for sale has been on steady decline, so increased sales from 2018 is a positive sign for the Charlotte region.
Dropping mortgage rates continue to fuel sales across the region this year, with pending sales up 37.6 percent over September 2018 figures. A total of 4,560 home sales were pending as of the close of September, up from 3,314 in September 2018. Compared to August, pending sales dropped 10.5 percent.
The average list price of a home in the Charlotte region rose 4.4 percent to $327,505 from September 2018.
In September, sellers were getting just less than 97 percent of asking price compared to the negotiated sales price. Limited market supply is impacting sales prices, with the average and median sales prices up 6.8 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively. In September, average sales prices rose to $300,175, while median increased to $259,479.
A total of 4,886 homes hit the market in September, an increase of 12.1 percent from September 2018 and drop of 13.1 percent from August. Listings are up 1.5 percent for the first nine months of 2019 compared to the same period last year.
“We were pleasantly surprised to see such a solid increase in new listings around the region,” said Hayden. “This is a strong signal of seller confidence that we’d like to see continue, and it will certainly help buyers with more choice in their home search,” said CRRA/Canopy MLS President Brenda Hayden.
Inventory is down 19 percent to 9,272 homes for sales for September, leaving the Charlotte region with only 2.2 months of housing inventory on the market. For the same period in 2018, the regon had 2.8 months of market inventory.
Competition between buyers is fierce, so homes are not sitting long on the market. In September, homes were under contract in 39 days after being listed, and the period from list to close was approximately 3 months.
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