January 13, 2020

Contact: Kim Walker, 704-940-3149

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—2019 ended with a flurry of housing activity, with home sales up 17.2 percent in December compared to a year ago. For all of 2019, there were 50,854 properties sold in the Charlotte region, which was a 5.9 percent increase from 2018.

The Canopy Realtor^® Association provides monthly reports on residential real estate market activity for the Charlotte region based on data from Canopy MLS. The Charlotte region, which this report is based on, includes 12 counties in North Carolina and four counties in South Carolina.

Pending sales, which continue to show tremendous demand from buyers, ended the year up 8.9 percent in 2019 over pending sales for all of 2018. December figures showed demand soared 22.3 percent compared to last December as buyers continue to seek homes across the region.

Prices continued to respond to strong seller’s market conditions, with the average list price in 2019 ($333,290) rising 4.6 percent over 2018’s average list price. The original list price to sales price measure for the year was 96.7 percent.  The average sales price in 2019 rose 5.9 percent compared to 2018 to $303,722, while the median sales price, a better measure of prices over time, rose 7.1 percent to $255,000.

“Despite the slower activity during the first half of 2019, it’s truly turned out to be a record-breaking year of sales,” said 2020 Association/Canopy MLS president John Kindbom. “With sales in 2019 up nearly six percent over 2018, and with the phenomenal activity we saw during the month of December, it looks like the spring market has started early.”

New listing activity has been challenged for some time now, with listings absorbed almost as soon as they are listed. Listing activity for all of 2019 was essentially unchanged compared to 2018, rising 1.7 percent with 61,069 total new listings at year’s end. This will continue to impact inventory, which declined 23.9 percent in December and left the Charlotte region with 7,416 properties for sale at report time, or 1.7 months of supply.  A year ago, in December 2018 the region had 9,747 properties for sale, or 2.4 months of supply.

For all of 2019 the average number of days a property was on the market from the time it was listed until it closed (list to close) was 93 days, which is unchanged compared to December 2018. Days on Market, the metric that accrues for “Active” and “Under Contract-Show” statuses, averaged 43 days in 2019.

For more residential-housing market statistics, visit www.CarolinaHome.com and click on “Market Data.”  For an interview with 2020 Association/Canopy MLS President John Kindbom, please contact Kim Walker.

Canopy Realtor® Association is a trade association that provides its more than 12,200 Realtor® members with the resources and services they need to conduct ethical, professional, successful and profitable businesses.  The Association is dedicated to being the region's primary resource for residential real estate information. The Association operates Canopy MLS, which has more than 17,800 subscribers and is the private cooperative Realtors® use for access to tens of thousands of residential listings in a 24-county service area, including Charlotte, the mountains area of North Carolina, South Carolina, and beyond.

Original Publish Date: 1/13/2020