The Charlotte Region is one of the top real estate markets in the country right now and early indications show that 2020 should be another great year. This year was plagued by low inventory of homes and prices climbing higher than ever. There has been a seller’s market in the region for a long time, and it is expected to continue into this next year.
For the new year, the Carolina Regional Realtor Association has rebranded and is now called Canopy Realtor Association. The name is synonymous with shelter, support, nurturing, growth, and coverage. The association still covers 12 counties in North Carolina and 4 counties in South Carolina, in addition to covering the Asheville area. Carolina MLS, which is the repository for real estate data, brings us monthly reporting on the real estate market has been rebranded Canopy MLS. Canopy also has a real estate school rebranding from Mingle School of Real Estate to Canopy Real Estate Institute as well as a Charitable Foundation called Canopy Housing Foundation.
Based on the numbers from the Canopy MLS, the seller’s market will continue well into 2020. This is due in part to low levels of inventory, just a 1.7 month supply of homes currently on the market. A 6 month supply of homes is generally considered to be a balanced market between buyers and sellers. Another factor in the housing trends in historically low mortgage rates. These factors together have led to increased buyer demand at a time when there is short supply which leads directly to higher prices and multiple offer situations. Many buyers are reluctant to list their homes before they can secure a new home in the fear that they won’t find a new home before their home is sold. This leads to even lower inventory of homes for sale exacerbating the problem.
The National Association of Realtors predicts new and existing home sales to increase and interest rates to remain low. They are not predicting a recession, but are predicting a modest growth rate of 1.5%. With over 100 people moving to the Charlotte region every day, that prediction could be low for the area. The NAR is expecting the Charlotte to outperform during the next three to five years.
Prices have been climbing for months and the average sales price for a home in the Charlotte region has now climbed up to $303,722, 5.9% above the average home price from 2018 which was $286,699. This rise in prices can make it especially difficult for new buyers to enter the market. With the average household income higher than much of the nation, new buyers don’t have as much of a hurdle to cross. There has also been 37% job growth between 2000 and 2019, higher than the national rate of 16%.
There are many indicators that the market in the Charlotte region will remain strong. New listings in December were up 5.7% from December of 2018. Pending listings were up 22.3% from the previous year indicating that closings for January should come in strong as those pending listings head to the closing table.
