Charlotte Real Estate FAQ’s|Hows the Charlotte Real Estate Market? New video…
September 22nd, 2008 Categories: FAQs About Charlotte
I’m often asked “How’s the market in Charlotte?” It’s truly a Frequently Asked Question
Charlotte NC| and I’ve been working on a series of FAQ videos, and the first is below- the answer? Its a strong Buyers market in Charlotte… the text continues below the video, but give the video a look, and let me know what you think
Every day I am asked, “How is the real estate market in Charlotte? My answer hasn’t changed much in the last 18 months… It is a Buyers market, prices are stable, and our strong local economy keeps creating jobs, so demand remains relatively high. In 2007 as the national housing market reached crisis stage, and the financial sub-prime mess became a crisis, Charlotte real estate carried on, ignoring the national markets.
According to Standard and Poors’s Case Shiller report of the top 20 housing markets in the US, Charlotte home prices rose all 4 quarters of 2007, and in those 20 major markets, led the nation in appreciation for the year. And that has continued through the summer of 2008- though prices rose the first quarter, they’ve fallen ever so slightly the last few months– as in .2% over 2007, barely measurable.
Prices tell one story, sale
s another- Sales in 2008 are way off 2007- we are much slower, about 30 % slower thru the first 6 months of 2008. New Home Sales are worse, approaching 50% off last summer. The sales slow down began in the 3rd quarter of last year… it is a testament to the strength of the Charlotte market fundamentals that even after nearly 10 months of dramatically slower sales, prices have only given back a minute amount of the gain.
Once people hear this, their next question is Why, why haven’t prices fallen and whats to keep them from falling in the future? Excellent Question, I think there are 3 answers. To these questions…
First is that Charlotte remains very affordable– by that I mean, by any index, the average home price is affordable by a large Percentage of the population—if you’ve lived in almost any major city you’ve probably already noticed, but for those of you who like numbers… PMI the large private mortgage insurer rates cities on a 100 points scale, considering anything above 100 affordable. Charlotte’s 114 scale is the most affordable in the south- another firm. Radar Logic, a Wall Street darling, Calls Charlotte the”only objectively affordable city” in the major markets.
Another reason prices haven’t and won’t fall quickly is because home prices here never ran up exorbitantly in the first place. We’ve had steady appreciation in averaging 3-4% annually, so with no “hyper” balloon like appreciation, there is no balloon to pop.
Last, and most important is that our strong local economy is creating jobs at a much greater pace than the national economy– well paying jobs that stimulate increasing housing demand. In 2007, the three cities that appreciated in value- Charlotte, Portland And Seattle, all had strong local economies creating well paying jobs, much faster than the national average. .
That’s it in a nutshell- it’s a strong buyers market here, you’ll find a good selection of homes, prices are stable- and the economy creating jobs makes me believe that Charlotte has a bright future.
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It is a strong buyers market here in the greater Charlotte area, Lake Wylie, Lake Norman, the whole area for new homes and re-sales.
Moving to Charlotte?
Have Questions? I am a Charlotte broker specializing in relocations, 2nd homes–buying and selling real estate of all kinds- and will represent only you. We work with Buyers and Sellers every day. You can quickly compare area prices with the map-based Charlotte home search below. Another good place to start is my fact-filled and well received Introduction to Charlotte Video (nearly 8000 You Tube views, 22 reviews) and don’t miss the FAQ videos in the right column (just under the Introduction to Charlotte Video Screen)
If it’s between the hours of 8 AM to 8 PM, EDT, please don’ t hesitate to call me direct at 704-351-1519. Terry
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