The start of 2020 has been a tough year for businesses and the stock market. But unlike the 2007-2008 recession, housing prices in the U.S. and Charlotte specifically, have remained strong.
House prices in the U.S. rose 5.4 percent from the second quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2020. This according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index. In the second quarter of 2020, house prices were up 0.8 percent.
“Home prices grew by 5.4 percent in the second quarter of 2020 compared to a year ago, despite the impacts of COVID-19.†said Dr. Lynn Fisher, Deputy Director of the Division of Research and Statistics at FHFA. “Although house prices fell slightly in May relative to April, in June prices rebounded by 0.9 percent over the month as local economies re-opened and transactions picked up again. Four Census Divisions showed strong early summer gains with month over month growth of one percent or more in June.â€
Some other significant findings from the report are that house prices have been on the rise since 2011. House prices rose in all 50 states and the District of Columbia between Q2 of 2019 and 2020. The house price in Honolulu, Hawaii rose 11.7% over the past year and rose 2 percent over the last quarter. The other metro areas rounding out the top five showing year over year growth are Boise, Idaho; Tacoma, Washington; Phoenix, Arizona and Greensboro, North Carolina. The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, North Carolina-South Carolina area house prices rose 7.7% over the past year and rose 1.2 % over the last quarter.
According to data released by Canopy Realtor Association, homes are selling faster. Houses in the Charlotte area on average go under contract in 36 days compared to 38 days in July of 2019. Homebuyers have fewer and more expensive options compared to last year. The data also shows that inventory is down almost 48% from last year. There were 5,580 homes that were up for sale last month compared to 10,629 in July of last year. By comparison, in April of this year, about a month into the coronavirus pandemic, there were 7,556 homes for sale. The market saw a sharp dip of available homes in June. There were 5,700 homes on the market.
While Charlotte may be more expensive to live in that other areas of North Carolina, like the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill areas, the Queen city is much less expensive than other big cities like Washington, D.C. who had a record-breaking July.
Regardless of the metro area, the general trend stands– inventory is down, house prices are up.
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