Though the Charlotte housing market may have started 2019 off slowly, the region saw a flurry of housing activity in December and had a nearly 6 percent increase for the year over 2018 totals for residential sales.
Monthly home sales rose 17.2 percent in December compared to December 2018. In total, 50,854 homes sold in the Charlotte region during 2019, which is a 5.9 percent increase from 2018, according to the monthly figures released by Canopy Realtor Association based on Canopy MLS data.
Year-over-year pending sales rose 8.9 percent. December figures revealed demand was on the rise with a 22.3 percent increase over December 2018 as buyers continue to search for homes amid the market’s low housing inventory.
List prices continued to reflect the strong seller’s market rising 4.6 percent from 2018’s average list price. The average list price for 2019 rose to $333,290. The average sales price in 2019 rose 5.9 percent compared to 2018 to $303,722. Median sales prices, which are a better measure of prices over time, rose 7.1 percent to $255,000.
The percentage of original list price to sales price closed out the year at 96.7 percent, which reflects strong buyer demand and willingness to pay near list price for homes.
“Despite the slower activity during the first half of 2019, it’s truly turned out to be a record-breaking year of sales,” said 2020 Association/Canopy MLS president John Kindbom. “With sales in 2019 up nearly six percent over 2018, and with the phenomenal activity we saw during the month of December, it looks like the spring market has started early.”
New listing activity was nearly unchanged from 2018, rising only 1.7 percent to 61,069 new listings at year’s end. This stagnation will continue to impact already challenged inventory, which declined 23.9 percent in December. The Charlotte region was left with 1.7 months of supply, or 7,416 properties for sale. In December 2018, the Charlotte region had 2.4 months of supply or 9,747 properties for sale.
For 2019, the average number of days a property was on the market from list to close was 93 days, which is unchanged from 2018. Days on the market (from active listing to under contract) averaged 43 days in 2019.
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