Carolina Realtors: October home sales up 10% year-over-year - Charlotte Business Journal

Carolina Realtors: October home sales up 10% year-over-year - Charlotte Business Journal

Susan Stabley

Staff Writer-Charlotte Business Journal

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Closings for Charlotte-area homes increased by 10 percent in October compared to the same time in 2012, according to the Charlotte Regional Realtors Association’s monthly market activity report released today.

Realtors closed on 2,831 homes sales last month in the 10-county Charlotte region tracked by the association, up from 2,574 in October 2012, the report states.

Closings have slowed in recent months, as is typical for later in the year. Charlotte-area closings were 3,392 in August and3,527 in July. But October’s figures were slightly better than September’s, which recorded 2,825 closings.

“The pace of sales seems to be slowing, which is typical for this time of year,” saysEric Locher, CRRA president. “Our local housing recovery continues, though given the challenges of persistently low inventory, tight credit, rising interest rates and uncertainty on the federal level, future sales could be impacted.”

Sale prices also increased for the 23rd month in a row in October.

The average home sales price in October was $210,278, up 2.9 percent from $204,284 during October 2012. The median sales price — considered a more accurate measurement — rose 8.2 percent during the year to $169,900, up from $157,000.

Average list prices jumped 9.2 percent to $252,415 from $231,150 during the same time last year. The number of pending sales hiked 22 percent to 2,989 last month, up from 2,449 a year earlier.

New residential listings also grew, by 17 percent to 4,160 year-over-year.

The Charlotte region, as tracked by CarolinaMLS, now has a 5.3-month supply of homes for sale. Properties are remaining on the market an average of 96 days from listing to closing, a decline of 12 days compared to October 2012.

Foreclosures and short sales represented 8.1 percent of the market’s new listings and 8.8 percent of all closed sales in October, according to the report.

The CRRA, a trade association with more than 6,000 Realtor members, uses a vendor that compiles its monthly market report based on data from its Carolina Multiple Listing Services Inc.