For the tenth consecutive month, existing-home sales have dropped according to the National Association of Realtors. The data for Existing-Home Sales for November was released at the end of December. Decemberâ€s report will be released at the end of January.

All four regions in the U.S. saw month-over-month decreases.  The four regions also recorded year-over-year declines in transactions. Single family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops saw a 7.7% sip in completed homes sales from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million in November. Year-over-year sales dropped by 35.4%. Compared to November of 2021, that is a decrease of 6.33 million.

“In essence, the residential real estate market was frozen in November, resembling the sales activity seen during the COVID-19 economic lockdowns in 2020,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “The principal factor was the rapid increase in mortgage rates, which hurt housing affordability and reduced incentives for homeowners to list their homes. Plus, available housing inventory remains near historic lows.”

The total inventory of houses registered at the end of November was 1.14 million units. This is down 6.6% from the month prior but up 2.7% from a year ago (1.11 million). There is a 3.3-month supply of unsold inventory at the current pace of sales. October saw an identical inventory however itâ€s up from the 2.1 months of inventory from November 2021.

Yun says affordability in 2023 will continue to be a challenge, but there will be less competition for homebuyers as more properties come onto the market. 

“What happened in 2020, 2021, multiple offers, situations like that will not repeat,” Yun said.

In the Charlotte area, there is still a high demand for housing but not enough of it.

“Housing stock is low, basically no matter what, weâ€re not going to change the housing stock shortage for several years,” John Connaughton, professor of financial economics at UNC Charlotte, said. “So, that will keep pressure on prices of single-family homes.”

Realtor.com anticipates a slight decline in homes sales this year by 0.3% however home prices are forecast to increase 5.5%

Meanwhile, the median existing-home price for all housing types across the nation in November was $370,700. This is an increase of 3.5% from November of last year and marks 129 straight months of year-over-year increases. Itâ€s a record for the longest-running streak.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to Freddie Mac, averaged 6.31% as of mid-December. That’s down from 6.33% the week prior, however it is up from 3.12% one year ago.

“The market may be thawing since mortgage rates have fallen for five straight weeks,” Yun added. “The average monthly mortgage payment is now almost $200 less than it was several weeks ago when interest rates reached their peak for this year.”

Yun believes this year won’t be a buyer’s or seller’s market as it will be more balanced. 

The post 7.7% Drop in Existing-Home Sales in November appeared first on Charlotte Real Estate.

4.78 million existing homes will be sold, prices will remain stable and Atlanta will be the top market to watch in 2023 and beyond. All this according to forecasts by the National Association of Realtors. NARâ€s Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors chief economist and senior vice president of research, unveiled the predictions at NARâ€s annual year-end Real Estate Forecast Summit last month.

Among the predictions were that home sales will decline by 6.8% compared to last year (5.13 million) and the median home price will reach $385,800 compared to 2022â€s $384,500. That is just an increase of 0.3%. 

“Half of the country may experience small price gains, while the other half may see slight price declines,” Yun said. “However, markets in California may be the exception, with San Francisco, for example, likely to register price drops of 10–15%.

After rising to 7% late last year, Yun expects the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to come down a bit to 5.7% as the Federal Reserve tries to get a control on inflation. Foreclosure rates will remain historically low in 2023, according to Yun. Yun predicts less than 1% of mortgages will default. 

Along with pricing predictions, NAR also identified the 10 markets to expect to outperform in 2023. Topping the list is the Atlanta, Georgia metro area. While Charlotte didnâ€t make the top 10, Raleigh, North Carolina comes in at number two. Rounding out the list is Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas; Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas-Missouri; Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, South Carolina; Charleston-North Charleston, South Carolina; Huntsville, Alabama; Jacksonville, Florida; San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas and Knoxville, Tennessee

“The demand for housing continues to outpace supply,” Yun said. “The economic conditions in place in the top 10 U.S. markets, all of which are located in the South, provide the support for home prices to climb by at least 5% in 2023.”

The Top 10 real estate markets to watch in 2023 was selected by NAR based on how they compared to the national average by using some of these economic indicators: housing affordability, number of renters who can afford to buy homes at the median price, job growth, population growth, active housing inventory and housing shortages.

How does Charlotteâ€s numbers compare?

Comparing the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia region to number one Atlanta and number 10 Knoxville, based on the Housing Affordability Index, Charlotte received 89.6 points compared to 100.7 and 97.2 for Atlanta and Knoxville, respectively. 

23.3% of renters in the Charlotte region can afford to buy a median-priced home (at 7% mortgage rates), while 21.3% renters can afford to buy in Atlanta and 24.1% in Knoxville. And when taking a look at the numbers from NARâ€s Housing Shortage Tracker (Oct. 2022) meaning areas where the housing supply meets better housing demand for buyers to have more options,

 Atlanta ranks at 5.6; Knoxville at 4.3 and Charlotte 3.7. This measure computes how many new permits are issued for every new job.

The post NAR Predicts Stable Prices in 2023 appeared first on Charlotte Real Estate.

The Assessorâ€s office has spent two years determining the market value of all properties and county assessors will visit all properties to verify the accuracy of record for the property, compare similar property sales and consider improvements or changes that have been made to the property. 

Fowler said the assessorâ€s office has seen so far a 50% increase in property values countywide: 57% average increase in residential and 39% average increase in commercial. In Matthews, theyâ€ve noticed so far a 56% average increase for residential and 30% increase for commercial. 

The increase in values partially due to homes being built or flipped across the county which changes the neighborhood landscape each year. Ashley Park in West Charlotte for example has eight houses listed on Zillow.com. A newly built home is going for $700,000 while homes next door are worth less than half.

CEO of The Buildery, Hunter Moll told WCNC News that a hot market means good business for people in his industry. 

Higher property values, however lead to higher property taxes.

“Higher interest rates, higher values, thatâ€s higher payments and now you throw higher property taxes in there, itâ€s definitely going to squeeze affordability,” said Moll.

In a city council meeting last month, Charlotte Mayor Pro tempore Braxton Winston said that lower income families that bought their homes decades ago will be some of those most affected by the property revaluations.

“Itâ€s a time period a lot of our folks have certain fears over, you know, when they see the tax value of their home can change 60%,” Winston said.

Many residents are happy to see value added to their homes, but others fear theyâ€re being priced out. 

“Gentrification doesnâ€t occur because the assessor is raising values,” County Assessor Ken Joyner said. “All it does is bring it to the forefront where everybody sees what is happening in those neighborhoods.”  

Property owners will be notified of their new property values in March. If there is an error or if the property owner disagrees with the value, they can file a review by mail, in person or online. The form to request the review will be live once property values are sent out. It may take the county up to four weeks to respond. If owners disagree with the informal review, they can file a formal appeal to the Board of Equalization and Review. The deadline is May 25.

Once the new values are mailed out, the property tax bills based on the new numbers will be sent out in July. 

The post Home Values Could Increase in Mecklenburg County appeared first on Charlotte Real Estate.

A new report released this month by UNC Charlotteâ€s Childress Klein Center for Real Estate (CKCRE), the Charlotte housing market is showing signs of softening but itâ€s becoming difficult to find homes that are priced affordably. 

The “2022 State of Housing in Charlotte” report, says home buyers and renters in the eight-county region are entering a second year of high prices and a lack of affordable housing. According to the report, only 25% of the houses are sold for under $300,000 while 3.8% of the houses sold for half that price. 

“In particular, the prices at the lower end of the distribution have increased much faster than at the higher end, causing significant concerns for housing affordability in the region,” said Yongqiang Chu, CKCRE director and the primary author of the housing report.

The dramatic rise in interest rates in recent months has made housing affordability much worse. The 30-year fixed mortgage interest rates rose from 2.96% in January 2021 to almost 7% in September 2022.

Middle-income housing affordability is becoming a challenge for the region. For a median-priced home, the required income has increased from $89,816 in 2020 to $136,750 in 2022. This is an increase of 73%. The median home price in Charlotte increased from $237,500 in January 2020 to $420,000 in September 2022. That is a 54% increase in 32 months.

The combination of rising interest rates and house prices have made housing unaffordable in the Charlotte region.

“At some point this will become a serious concern for people who want to do business here,” Chu said. He went on to say that there needs to be an increase in supply and offered two solutions to the problem. First, make development easier by regulations and restrictions and then build on green space.

“We should be willing to make those compromises, before Charlotte becomes really unaffordable and people donâ€t want to live here anymore,” Chu said. 

While the market does continue to be tight, there are some signs of softening since this past summer. The median number of days a house is on the market has increased from three days to nine days in the months of May 2022 to September 2022. Prior to the pandemic, the median days on the market was about 20 days. 

The report also found that over the last few years, the average rent has increased by 27% per unit or $320, a swift acceleration in rental prices.

You can click here to see the full report from CKCRE.

The post New Report: Affordable Homes in Charlotte “Increasingly Difficult to Find” appeared first on Charlotte Real Estate.

According to the latest RE/MAX National Housing Report, home sellers accepted offers below their listing prices on average based on data from August. This is further indication of the housing market rebalancing which is a source of relief for prospective homebuyers who have faced an incredibly competitive market. Out of the reportâ€s 51 metro areas, the average close-to-list price ratio was 99% in August. This means that homes sold for 1% less than the asking price. This is down from 101% in July and 104% in April. 

“Patient buyers were rewarded in August, as prices softened from July. Sales increased as buyers ‘bought the dip’ – which was not the trend many people were expecting. The activity modestly depleted inventory, although the number of homes for sale remains significantly higher than this time a year ago,” said Nick Bailey, RE/MAX President and CEO. “The late-summer burst of activity underscores the housing market’s resiliency. Despite the uptick in interest rates and concerns about the economy, demand remains strong. We’ll see what happens from here, but the August bump in sales was great news for the industry.”

The numbers however still show that it is more expensive to buy a home in Charlotte and has been for over a year. 

The median home sale price in Charlotte went up slightly from July to August per the report. This is up 1.3% from $395,000 to $400,000. The opposite happened with the median listing price. The price dropped 1.3% from July to August– $400,000 to $395,000.

Year over year, both prices have seen significant increases.

According to RE/MAX, the median listing price for the Charlotte metro area has jumped 12.9% in the past twelve months. In August 2021, The price was $349,000 compared to $395,000 in August 2022. The median sales price meanwhile has jumped 16.1% from $344,500 to $400,000 in the same time frame. 

Charlotte had 5,723 active listings in August which is up 77.4% from a year ago. According to the report, there were 3,226 active listings a year ago in August. 

Compared to the national average, Charlotteâ€s median home sale is less expensive. According to RE/MAX, the national average is $410,000. The report notes however that Charlotte is in the top five markets in the country for median sale price increases year-over-year.

The national trends for housing inventory in the report showed Charlotte isnâ€t an outlier, with an active inventory increase of 20% in the last 12 months but down from July by 1.8%.

Rising mortgage rates are expected to help cool the housing market country-wide. “The cumulative effect of this sharp rise in rates has cooled the housing market and caused the economy to start slowing, but hasnâ€t done much to lower inflation,” says Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate chief financial analyst.

The last time the 30-year rate rose to over 6% was during the 2008 housing crash. The interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage is at 7.20% a .16 increase from just a week ago (7.04%).

The post New Report Shows Good Signs for Homebuyers appeared first on Charlotte Real Estate.

“More people are opting to live alone, and rising mortgage-interest rates are forcing would-be homebuyers to keep renting,” said Redfin deputy chief economist Taylor Marr. “These are among the demand-side pressures keeping rents sky-high. While renting has become more expensive, it is now more attractive than buying for many Americans this year as mortgage payments have surpassed rents on many homes. Although we expect rent-price growth to continue to slow in the coming months, it will likely remain high, causing ongoing affordability issues for renters.”

In some cities around the country, rent is up over 30%. Nashville, Seattle, and Cincinnati all saw 30% increases while Austin, Texas saw a whopping 48% increase. According to Redfin, this is the largest increase for any metro area since the data started getting collected in 2019. 

The top 10 metro areas with the fastest-rising rents year over year were Austin at number 1, followed by Nashville, TN; Seattle, WA; Cincinnati, OH and Miami, FL to round out the top 5. Fort Lauderdale, FL; West Palm Beach, FL; New York, NY; Nassau County, NJ and then New Brunswick, NJ finished off the top 10. 

The rent growth in Portland, OR fell below 30% for the first time since the beginning of the year which caused it to drop out of the top 10. Only three of the 50 most populous metro areas saw rents decline in May from the year prior. In Milwaukee, WI, rent fell 10% while Kansas City, MO and Minneapolis, MN saw a decrease of 3%. All three metro areas also saw decline in rent in April too.

Closer to home, the median monthly rent in Charlotte is a little over $1,800 a month in May. That is 8.7% higher than the same time a year before.

An indicator of affordable rent is if someone is able to spend no more than 30% of their income on housing. In order to be able to afford rent in the Queen City, that would mean a person would have to make about $73,000 a year.

The housing market having low inventory and increasing interest rates makes renting less expensive than buying for most. Currently Charlotte has about 81,000 units that are considered affordable. However, according to officials in the city, Charlotte needs an additional 32,000 available units in order to meet the demands.

The post Median U.S. Rent Surpasses $2,000 For First Time appeared first on Charlotte Real Estate.

While homebuyers are still navigating record-high prices along with mortgage rates that are up over 5%, recent data released by the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) college of business notes that the average home in Charlotte is selling for about 55% more than its expected amount. If youâ€ve purchased a home in the Charlotte region recently, itâ€s likely you overspent by more than $100,000.

Itâ€s important to note that while the data shows overspending, it is not an analysis of how much homes are appraising for. Those numbers are based on the fair market value and calculated on a case-by-case basis. The fair market value or FMV is the determined price that a property will sell for in an open market. It is agreed upon by the buyer and seller who should both be reasonably knowledgeable about the property. 

Just a few months ago in April, the average expected price of a home in the Queen City was a little under $240,000 according to FAUâ€s study. However, the average house was selling for a little over $370,000– around a 55% difference. A home in the Plaza Midwood area of the city was listed for $585,000 but sold for $740,000. 

By comparison to one year before, in April of 2021, the selling price was only 21.5% higher than the average expected price. 

In a recent interview with Axios, FAU Associate Dean of Graduate Programs in the Finance Department, Ken Johnson, said the home prices in Charlotte have been above the expected pricing trend since March 2018. Johnson has an area of expertise in rental housing, real estate markets, homeownership, and real estate economics. 

“The run-up in prices in the last couple of years is the highest in our data stream which goes back to 1996,” Johnson told Axios. 

This is great news for sellers in Charlotte but homebuyers are still trying to navigate the record-high prices, competitive bidding wars and now mortgage rates are up over 5%. 

There are a couple of factors within the housing market currently that are supporting Charlotteâ€s home prices. There has been an influx in population along with an inventory shortage.

According to Johnson, these “help support Charlotteâ€s home prices, making a catastrophic housing price crash unlikely.” This coupled with those moving from bigger cities and metro areas who donâ€t have to adjust their spending habits for a better lifestyle in Charlotte.

A recent Zillow survey shows prices will continue to grow while demand for homes will stay strong. 60% of experts say the housing market is heating up but not in a bubble. Many of those experts from the survey say itâ€s their belief that there will be a short recession by 2024 as the Federal Reserve tries to rein in inflation. 

Itâ€s clear to see that buyers in the Charlotte metro area are paying a lot for their homes with no indication of slowing down. To see the full data report from FAU, click here

The post New Study: Charlotte Homebuyers Overpaying by more than $100k appeared first on Charlotte Real Estate.

Here are some things to know if youâ€re looking to buy a home in Charlotte and where to go if youâ€re looking for a deal.

According to realtor.com, Charlotteâ€s real estate market is a sellerâ€s market. This means there are more people looking to buy than there are homes available and the prices of those available homes continue to trend up. The median price of a sold home is $355,000 while the median listing price for those homes are $367,000 according to Realtorâ€s data. That amount breaks down to about $206 per square foot. On average, the homes in the Charlotte area sell after 43 days on the market.

Another real estate site, Zillow, has a slightly lower figure. According to their site, the typical home value of homes in Charlotte are $349,176. This marks a 25.5% increase over the past year on Zillowâ€s “Home Value Index.” By comparison, homes in Raleigh are selling for $402,000, $215,000 in Greensboro while homes in Wilington are selling for $326,000.

For your average potential buyer, these prices may make it difficult to find a home within budget. According to UNC Charlotteâ€s Childress Klein Center for Real Estateâ€s State of Housing report, only 4.4% of houses in the metro area that were sold went for $150,000 or less while 35% of the houses sold for less than $300,000.

Where are buyers to look for more affordable housing? There tends to be more deals available if youâ€re willing to get further away from the heart of the city. Belmont, Gastonia, Mint Hill or even Hickory could be more affordable options.

The most recent data available from December of last year has the average sale price in Uptown Charlotte at $421,433. That is up 33.4% from December the year prior according to the Charlotte Observer. In this same time period, the average price in Gastonia was under $300,000 at $284,351 while Kannapolis was at $268, 193.

Of Charlottes 165 neighborhoods, about 1700 homes are currently for sale according to realtor.com. The most expensive neighborhood, Myers Park has a median listed home price of $1.1M. Elizabeth came in at second with a median list price of $665,000. The most affordable neighborhood, West Sugar Creek, has a median listed home price of $290,000.

The post Charlotte metro area home prices are rising, deals can still be found appeared first on Charlotte Real Estate.

“I love Charlotte. I love the weather. I love the people,” Christina Baldauf told Fox 46 Charlotte. The news station found others who love their fellow Charlotteans and asked what they loved about the city. “My favorite thing about Charlotte is the restaurants and to hang out with my friends,” said Joshua Caldwell.

There wonâ€t be a shortage of new friends to meet and hang out with in the Queen City. According to the U.S. Census data, between 2015 and 2019, Charlotte grew by a little under 20,000 people, making the city one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Charlotte came in at number nine on the top 10 list. This was a small decrease from the recorded 21,143 people who moved to Charlotte in the previous studyâ€s timeframe. Charlotte ranked seventh on that list.

With so much growth, the city has changed quite a bit too. “Oh, itâ€s completely different. When I moved here, Charlotte was like a big town and so we would go to happy hour after work and we had our choices, maybe a couple blocks that way and a couple of blocks this way, but itâ€s not like the metropolis we have now. Very few choices, but it was a lot of fun. You knew everybody,” said Baldauf.

David Furman, who was born and raised in Myers Park, has also watched the growth thatâ€s come to charlotte. “Itâ€s my home. Thatâ€s the main thing that has kept me here. My children do not live here. I wish they did. They live in bigger, cooler cities. I stay here because I wanna take part in making my city a place where my children would want to live,” said Furman.

Even with the slight decrease, Charlotte is still one of the fastest-growing metros in the country when factoring in other population sources. Over the last decade, Charlotte was the ninth-fastest-growing large metro by percentage with a population increase of 18.6%.

The study has gone on to say that the Charlotte metro area will likely continue drawing residents from both Carolinas, like Winston-Salem and Greensboro, as well as big cities like New York City. In fact, NYC is the primary source of residents moving in. The migration is likely due to an economic landscape that is ready for remote work.

The number one city on the list was Phoenix, Arizona. Raleigh also made the list coming in at number nine.

The post Study: Charlotte Among Fastest-Growing Cities appeared first on Charlotte Real Estate.

Closing on a home these days is tough, but how tough is it?

The combination of lower interest rates, shrinking inventory and the continued increase in construction costs has squeezed the housing supply. This has resulted in homes being bought up faster and for much more money.

There has also been a pent-up demand for many buyers after spending more than a year inside due to the pandemic while many millennials have entered the market to explore first-time home ownership.

“Itâ€s truly a sellerâ€s market, but the market right now has never been higher,” said James McDuffie, community lending manager for U.S. Bankâ€s Mid-Atlantic region. “Iâ€ve been in the business for quite a number of years now. Iâ€ve seen ups and downs, but right now is definitely a plateau that the market has hit that I donâ€t think weâ€ve ever seen before.”

The biggest hurdle for most buyers in the market is price. Itâ€s hard to pay attention to any other factors when the price of homes in many areas have skyrocketed. The median home sale price in the Charlotte metro area hovered around $260,000 throughout 2019. Those prices rose steadily throughout 2020 and continued to rise into 2021. The median sales price has now surpassed $300,000. Most sellers are getting well above their asking price.

Another obstacle for potential homebuyers is the inventory. With fewer house on the market, there is bigger competition among those buyers to snatch whatâ€s out there. Throughout the pandemic, supply has dwindled steadily. In the Charlotte metro area, there were less than 3,000 homes available for sale in June, a decrease of 45% from just a year ago and an almost 70% decrease from June 2019. It is possible that inventory will bounce back however when considering the recent low of 2,141 available homes in March of this year.

With fewer houses available, the time spent on the market has also shrunk. In June, the average time it took a home to sell was just 12 days. That is three times as fast compared to June of last year.

A good way to measure an areaâ€s housing market is to consider an areaâ€s monthâ€s supply of inventory. Itâ€s to measure how fast available homes would sell on the market at the current pace. In the Charlotte area, the number of available homes dipped below one monthâ€s supply for the first time in November of last year. In June, the supply was just 18 days.

A market is considered balanced when there is around six months†worth of supply.

The post Charlotte Seeing a Red-Hot Market appeared first on Charlotte Real Estate.