Every month, I analyze the sale of homes for the preceding month in ten Charlotte local market areas for publication on Realty Times website and Realtor.com. I have been doing these market analyses since March of 2006. Data is taken from both the Carolina Multiple Listing Service and the Piedmont Multiple Listing Service. These analyses are completed on or about the fifteenth of each succeeding month due to the time allowed by the Carolina MLS for agents to enter sold data.
For March, 2009, the majority of submarkets increased units sold substantially from February results, following an increase in February which we judged might be due to the lack of contracts written during the holidays. For Mecklenburg County as a whole, including Charlotte and all other towns in the county, the number of homes sold through the MLS increased from 454 in February to 564 single-family homes, and 115 to 133 condos and town homes. Could this be a trend? March unit sales were 31% lower for single-family and 47% lower for condos and town homes than the monthly unit sales for March of 2008, based on raw data. Average selling price was 16% below twelve months ago for single-family, and 8.5% down for condos and town homes, based on averaged data. Inventory of both single-family and condo/town homes decreased from Frebruary to March, to 13 months and 21 months respectively. A normal, healthy market is considered to be 5 to 7 months of inventory.
These numbers would seem to indicate that more buyers are coming into the market, and recent activity at our real estate agency seems to support that. However, it is normal for buying to increase in early spring, as most people make residence moves in summer between schools. The unit sales are still 30% or more below this time last year, so we cannot call this a bottoming or a market turn until we see at least a couple more months of positive trends. In any case, we still have a strong buyer’s market with pressure on prices.
My advice to sellers is to still price aggressively and make your home the best value in your local area and price range. For buyers, there has never been a better time to buy if you have the credit standing and downpayment money available. FHA loans only require 3.5% up front, and first-time buyers (who have not owned a principal residence in three years) have an especially good opportunity with the 2009 Federal tax credit just passed.
Click here to download an updated Excel spreadsheet containing all the monthly statistics for these submarkets back to March of 2006.