Charlotte-area home sales increase 15% in September
Joe Rempson, president of the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association, said the year-over-year rise in Charlotte-area home sales bucks a national trend. But more new homes are needed in the region to meet growing demand from people moving to Charlotte for jobs, he said.
Charlotte-area home sales rose 15 percent in September from the same month last year while the supply of properties for sale shrank again – a combination that continues to give sellers an edge over buyers.
The region had 3,253 closings in September, which recorded the largest year-over-year percentage rate increase for any month this year, according to a report on existing-home sales released Thursday by the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association.
In a trend that continues, sales and prices are rising while supplies are declining, giving buyers fewer options.
According to the report, inventory fell to a 5-month supply, down from a 5.2-month supply in August. A widely accepted definition of a balanced housing market is one with a six-month inventory. Charlotte has been below that level since November 2012.
Supplies in the Charlotte region have now fallen for three months in a row. Tight supplies have been seen as a key factor in large annual price gains in Charlotte and elsewhere, as buyers waging bidding wars push up prices.
Last month, the average sales price in the region was $228,085, up 3 percent from a year ago. Annual price gains in the Charlotte region have cooled off from double-digit gains, recorded as recently as January, as appreciation nationwide has also slowed.
Joe Rempson, president of the Realtor association, said in an interview that more new homes are needed in the region to meet growing demand from people moving to Charlotte for jobs. But in the wake of the housing bubble bursting, some home builders continue to face challenges getting financing to build new homes, he said.
“The new-housing market’s coming alive, but we’ve got to have more and more inventory with the amount of people moving into the area,” he said.
September’s closings were down 11 percent from August. That decline is not all that surprising, as the housing market tends to slow in the second half of the year.
The Realtors report is based on activity in a roughly 18-county region. It generally does not include sales of new homes.
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