CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Home sales declined for a second consecutive month in October, falling 5.3 percent year-over-year as 4,906 homes sold across the 16-county Charlotte region.  Last October, nearly 5,200 homes sold during the month, in large part due to the low mortgage rate environment, combined with consumers making lifestyle changes during the pandemic. 

Though sales are down year-over-year, October’s sales are still 14.5 percent higher than the region’s sales in October 2019, which at the time reflected a healthy, hot market with 4,300 homes sold during the month.

Sales figures included in this report reflect single-family and condo/townhome transactions only according to data from Canopy MLS.

Buyers continued to show their desire for homes, as displayed by pending sales activity, which increased 5.6 percent year-over-year as 5,319 homes went under contract during the month. Pending sales counts were mostly level with the previous month, rising 0.7 percent over buyer activity in September. New listings declined for a second month, falling 5 percent year-over-year as sellers listed 5,368 homes for sale compared to 5,650 homes listed in October 2020.

"We’re experiencing the usual seasonal cycles of slower market activity and growth in new inventory will remain gradual." said David Kennedy, president of Canopy Realtor® Association/Canopy MLS. "Buyer relief in the form of new inventory remains tethered to the interest rate environment, the impact of the end of mortgage forbearance, the effects of any infrastructure legislation, and builders navigating supply-chain issues as well as increased construction material costs."

Inventory in October was still challenged and fell 37.3 percent year-over-year leaving a little over 4,000 homes for sale and 0.8 months of supply, which is approximately 24 days of supply at the current sales pace. Last October there were more than 6,400 homes for sale or 1.4 months of supply.

With inventory still tight across the market, prices rose. Both the median sales price ($335,000) and the average sales price ($388,987) rose 15.5 percent and 9.7 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price rose 12.9 percent year-over-year to $407,786.  This brought the original list price to sales price ratio to 100.4 percent in October, showing sellers clearly in command of the market and getting well over asking price for their homes.

“The Charlotte region continues to be highly desirable, because of our overall low cost of living and steady job growth, which means buyers and the demand for homes will be steady, well into next year.” Kennedy said.  “As demand continues to outpace supply, buyers will unfortunately experience steady price increases, and this may hinder first-time buyers and workforce buyers, until the market is able to come back into balance.”

The pace of sales was brisk in October, as days on market showed homes averaged 17 days on market this past month compared to 26 days on market in October 2020.

Canopy Realtor^® Association provides monthly reports on residential real estate market activity for the Charlotte Metro region based on data from its subsidiary, Canopy MLS. The Charlotte Metro region, which this report is based on, consists of the following 16 counties: Alexander, Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly and Union counties in North Carolina; and Chester, Chesterfield, Lancaster and York counties in South Carolina. 

For more residential housing market statistics, visit www.CarolinaHome.com and click on “Market Data.” For an interview with 2021 Association/Canopy MLS President David Kennedy, please contact Kim Walker at 704-940-3149.

Canopy MLS is a wholly-owned subsidiary corporation of Canopy Realtor® Association and is the private broker cooperative used by Realtors® to bring buyers and sellers together with access to thousands of residential listings in a multicounty service area, including Charlotte, the mountains area of North Carolina, South Carolina, and beyond. Canopy MLS, which has 21,000 subscribers, provides the most trustworthy, timely, accurate and complete property data along with proprietary tools for showings, market stats, predictive analytics, and more. Canopy MLS is used by its members to support consumers in their residential real estate transactions, whether selling, buying, investing or renting.

Original Publish Date: 11/16/2021