Nov. 3, 2021

Contact: Kim Walker, 704-940-3149

Cooler temperatures and the routines of fall, still haven’t deterred home sales across the Catawba Valley region

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Even as cooler, fall weather settles into the Catawba Valley region, home sales continue like a heat wave across Alexander, Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties.  The four-county Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton MSA had a 20.8 percent year-over-year increase in home sales, as 448 homes sold this past month, compared to 371 that sold in September 2020. September 2021 sales were on par with activity from last month (August 2021) with September having just one more home sale than in August, an increase of 0.2 percent month-over-month. Sales figures included in this report are for single family and condo/townhome data only, based on Canopy MLS data.

Pending sales showed buyers still engaged and looking for homes as 440 homes went under contract during the month, an increase of 24.3 percent year-over-year.  Contract activity is down 8.7 percent compared to August 2021. Sellers continue to respond favorably to the market as 418 homes were listed during the month, an increase of 2 percent over new listing activity this time last year. Year-to-date sales and contract figures continue to show the region on pace to end the year with 2021 sales ahead of 2020. 

Cory Klassett, president of Catawba Valley Association of Realtors® and a Realtor®/broker with RE/MAX Legendary, said, “Typically our region’s location in the foothills of North Carolina, makes us sensitive to the seasonality of home sales. Month-over-month activity we are starting to see a small cool down in buyer activity, but overall demand for homes in the area continues to be strong, with Burke and Caldwell counties in particular seeing a lot of interest from buyers.” 

Properties continued to sell quickly, as days on market averaged 22 days in September versus 45 days this time last year, while supply continues to fall lower.  Inventory declined 27.3 percent year-over-year leaving 432 homes for sale or 1.1 month of supply.  Low inventory will continue to pressure prices. Both the median sales price ($230,000) and the average sales price ($283,650) rose 7 percent and 4.8 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price rose 14.5 percent year-over-year to $320,455. 

Klassett notes, “Our housing market’s outlook continues to be healthy, especially as we continue to see improvement in new listings, which are up nearly 20 percent year-to-date.  This should help to improve the inventory situation. Although prices are predicted to increase coupled with the rate of increase slowing next year and interest rates rising, rates are still low and favorable and can help buyers offset prices.” 

A closer look at sales across the four counties 

Alexander County home sales declined 29.7 percent year-over-year with 26 homes sales in September 2021 versus 37 home sales in September 2020. Pending sales signal buyers are still looking for homes in the area and rose 20 percent year-over-year as 30 homes went under contract versus 25 this time last year.  New listings however declined by 25.7 percent year-over-year and will do little to help critically low inventory that fell by 40.7 percent year-over-year leaving 32 homes for sale or one month of supply, at the current sales pace.  Inventory woes will continue to pressure prices, which continue to rise.  Both the median sales price ($262,000) and the average sales price ($298,715) rose 21.9 percent and 17.2 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price rose 40.9 percent year-over-year to $416,065.  This brought the original list price to sales price ratio to 95.9 percent, as sellers got close to asking prices in September. Days on market trended as low as 16 days, showing homes selling at a faster clip than last year’s DOM, which showed homes selling in 30 days.

Burke County closed sales rose 67.2 percent year-over-year as buyers closed on 102 homes in September 2021 compared to 61 closings this time last year.  Buyer activity remained strong during the month, rising 19.4 percent as 86 homes went into pending status, which means sales should be steady over the next month or so. New listing activity was also positive and rose 2.4 percent year-over-year as sellers listed 86 homes for sale, two more than last September. Inventory fell by 21.6 percent year-over-year leaving 109 homes for sale or 1.3 months of supply, which will continue to pressure prices. Prices, though affordable rose in September.  Both the median sales price ($231,000) and the average sales price ($319,937) rose 15.5 percent and 38.4 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price rose 34.8 percent compared to last year to $313,171. The original list price to sales price measure showed sellers receiving 97.8 percent of asking prices in September while homes sold quickly, and averaged 24 days on market until sale.

Caldwell County increased 35.9 percent year-over-year as 87 homes sold compared to 64 that sold in September 2020. Pending contracts show buyer demand is strong and rose 28.4 percent year-over-year as 86 homes went under contract during the month versus 67 that were under contract in September 2020. New listings also increased, rising 7.9 percent year-over-year as sellers listed 82 homes for sale compared to 76 that were listed during the same period last year. Inventory at report time is low at 78 homes for sale or one month of supply, which will continue to pressure prices. Both the median sales price ($225,000) and the average sales price ($240,200) rose 16.3 percent and 2.3 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price rose 0.3 percent year-over-year to $248,143.  This brought the original list price to sales price ratio to 97.9 percent, showing sellers getting nearly all of asking price in September. Homes sold quickly, as days on market showed homes averaged 20 days on market until sale.

Catawba County homes sales continued to rise in September, as 233 homes sold versus 209 that sold in September 2020, an increase of 11.5 percent year-over-year.  Pending sales show the market flush with buyers as it rose 25.3 percent year-over-year as 238 homes went under contract during the month, compared to 190 in September 2020.  Sellers responded to favorable market conditions, listing 224 homes for sale, an increase of 4.2 percent over last year, when only 215 homes were listed.  Surprisingly, buyers found some relief from prices, which fell during the month.  Both the median sales price ($230,000) and the average sales price ($282,464) declined 3.2 percent and 4.5 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price rose 10.1 percent year-over-year to $338,788.  This brought the original list price to sales price ratio to 99.2 percent, showing sellers getting nearly all of asking price in September.  Homes sold quickly as indicated by days on market until sale averaging 22 days versus 42 days on market this time last year.  

 Canopy MLS, a wholly-owned subsidiary corporation of, announced the consolidation of the MLS of Catawba Valley (MLSCV), which was effective on August 31, 2020. For more residential-housing market statistics, visit www.CarolinaHome.com and click on “Market Data.” For an interview with a Hickory-area Realtor®, contact Kim Walker.

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: 11/3/2021