Increasing Speed of Buying and Selling
Reprinted from July 2016 CRRA Monthly Indicators
Even as prices rise in many communities, homes are selling faster now than they have in the past several years. This creates a situation where buyers need to move fast in order to secure homes, and they may have to pay more for them. While increasing prices generally coax more selling activity, there has been some hesitancy among potential sellers who worry that they will not be able to buy a desirable and reasonably priced home once they sell.
New Listings were down in the Charlotte region 3.4 percent to 5,075. Pending Sales increased 20.4 percent to 4,543. Inventory shrank 23.0 percent to 11,290 units.
Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 8.5 percent to $217,000. Months Supply of Homes for Sale was down 29.5 percent to 3.1 months, indicating that demand increased relative to supply. Low housing supply has already prevented an outright national boon in sales activity, despite a continuation of near record-low mortgage rates and an unemployment rate under 5.0 percent deep into 2016. The issue is not purchasing power. Many areas are falling behind last year’s closed sales totals simply because of lack of available inventory. As this continues, higher prices may put a deeper squeeze on the current buyer pool.
The Vitals: A Look at Charlotte’s Overall Real Estate Market
- Measuring July of 2015 to July 2016 Charlotte’s lack of inventory has stayed low, at 23%.
- However, pending sales, contrasting July 2015 to July 2016, stayed on the rise at 20.4%.
- The market inventory remains extremely low, putting even more of a squeeze on buyers.
- Months supply of inventory stays at 3.1 for July 2016; this usually indicates the market is favorable for the seller. A balanced market is 6 months supply of inventory.
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