Dec. 2, 2022

Contact: Kim Walker, 704-940-3149

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Catawba Valley region home sales declined in October, falling 15.5 percent year-over-year as 338 homes sold across the four counties. Inflation, resulting in higher interest rates along with tight inventory continued to hamper home sales which were also down 3 percent compared to September 2022. Year-to-date figures show the region has closed a little over 3,700 homes this year, which suggests sales are trending back to pre-pandemic levels.

Housing statistics included in this report are completed transactions that include single-family and condo/townhomes only, according to data from Canopy MLS.

Pending contract activity, which signals buyer demand, declined 20.7 percent in October, as 340 homes went under contract compared to 429 homes under contract during the previous year. Contract activity was down 10 percent when compared to contracts in September 2022, which means year-over-year sales will continue to be unsteady. Buyer interest and foot-traffic however, as seen through Canopy MLS showing reports, continues to be strong particularly in Newton, where listings are averaged eight showings (or buyers) per listing in October.

New listing activity continued to be hindered by falling seller confidence in October, with a 4.6 percent decline from 431 homes newly listed in October 2021, to 411 during the same period this year. However, when compared to September 2022 new listing activity experienced a 6 percent jump from 388.

Donna Austin, president of Catawba Valley Association of Realtors® and a Realtor®/broker with Coldwell Banker Boyd & Hassel, Inc. said, “If there’s any silver-lining to declining sales and the slower market, it’s that small, subtle changes in new listing activity, like the month-over-month increase we had in October, will eventually help to replenish inventory, as well as cool price appreciation.”

Inventory at report time, showed 617 homes for sale, which is up 17.5 percent when compared to inventory this time last year.  Months of supply also increased, by 30.8 percent year-over-year to 1.7 months of supply, compared to 1.3 months of supply in October 2021. This is the first year-over-year increase in supply in the four-county market since July 2014, when there were more than 3,000 homes for sale.

Austin continued, “Buyers need to understand that this is still a seller’s market and that we are long way from being a balanced market at six months of supply. Sellers however will need to reset their expectations and realize that the days of receiving more than asking prices are behind. Realtors® continue to be the consumers best resource for navigating the market and accessing programs and strategies for homebuying.”

Prices continued to rise in the region due to low inventory, both the median sales price ($261,000) and the average sales price ($307,939) rose 17 percent and 5.8 percent year-over-year respectively. The average list price rose 20.1 percent year-over-year to $343,897. Price appreciation recorded a slight uptick as the median sales price increased 4 percent when compared to September 2022, while the average sales price remained relatively stable with a. 0.3 percent decline from the prior month.  

The original list price to sales price measure in October continued to dip in the buyer’s favor, to 96.4 percent, as sellers no longer receive all of their asking price like they did during the latter half of 2021. Days on market until sale however increased slightly, showing homes on market a bit longer in October, to 24 days from 23 day on market in October 2021.
 

A closer look at sales across the four counties in October 2022

Alexander County closed sales increased 5 percent year-over-year as 21 homes sold compared to 20 in October 2021. Pending contracts where down 10.7 percent as 25 homes went under contract versus 28 this time last year. New listings remained stable at 31 the same as October 2021.  Inventory increased 2.4 percent year-over-year and showed 43 homes for sale at report time or 1.5 months of supply, which is up 7.1 percent compared to last year. Both the median sales price ($285,000) and the average sales price ($339,292) increased 57.9 percent and 33.6 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price increased 21.2 percent to $376,883. This brought the original list price to sales price measure to 92.5 percent in October, a 3.4 percent decline. Days on market until sale showed properties averaging 26 days on market until sale compared to 24 days this time last year.

Burke County home sales decreased 6.3 percent year-over-year as 74 homes sold versus 79 homes sold this time last year.  Pending contract activity dipped 39.4 percent year-over-year as 63 homes went under contract versus 104 this time last year. New listings decreased 25 percent to 78 homes in October 2022, from 104 last year. Inventory at report time declined 11.9 percent year-over-year leaving 118 homes for sale or 1.6 months of supply.  This time last year supply in Burke County hovered at 1.6 months of supply. The median sales price ($222,500) increased 4.5 percent and average sales price ($260,899) decreased by 13.9 percent. The average list price also rose (+13.7 percent) to $294,214. This brought the original list price to sales price measure to 95.1 percent, a 1.9 percent decrease in October 2022. This time last year the metric was 96.9 percent.  Homes are still selling quickly, days on market decreased 3.7 percent in October 2022, showing homes averaging 26 days on market until sale compared to 27 days on market this time last year.

Caldwell County closed sales in October fell 13.9 percent year-over-year as 68 homes sold, versus 79 homes that sold in Caldwell County last October. Pending contract activity dropped 9.2 percent year-over-year, as 69 homes went under contract, compared to 76 under contract this time last year.  New listing activity decreased 3.9 percent year-over-year as sellers listed 74 homes for sale compared to 77 homes added in October 2021. Inventory at report time showed 108 homes for sale an 18.7 percent increase and 1.6 months of supply versus 1.2 last October. Both the median sales price ($225,000) and the average sales price ($263,043) increased 4.7 percent and 13.7 percent year-over-year, respectively. This brought the original list price to sales price measure down from 99 percent in October 2021, to 97.4 percent this past October. Homes continue to sell quickly, but time on market increased 5.3 percent in October, as homes averaged 20 days on market until sale compared to 19 days on market in October 2021.

Catawba County home sales fell 21.2 percent year-over-year as 175 homes sold versus 222 that sold in October 2021. Pending sales declined 17.2 percent as 183 homes went under contract compared to 221 that were under contract a year ago. New listing activity showed sellers listing 228 homes for sale, a 4.1 percent year-over-year decline compared to 219 new listings entering the market in October 2021. Inventory at report time increased 34.9 percent year-over-year, leaving 348 homes for sale or 1.8 months of supply. A year ago, there were 258 homes for sale at 1.3 months of supply.  Still, the uptick in inventory has had little effect on price growth. Both the median sales price ($285,000) and the average sales price ($341,512) rose 19.5 percent and 9.7 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price increased 23.4 percent to $381,144. This brought the original list price to sales price metric to 97 percent in October which is down 1.2 percent from last October at 98.1 percent. Homes continue to sell quickly as homes averaged 25 days on market until sale compared to 22 days this time last year.  

For more residential-housing market statistics, visit www.CarolinaHome.com and click on “Market Data.” For an interview with 2022 Association/Canopy MLS President Lee Allen, Realtor®/Broker-in-charge with RE/MAX Executive, please 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, Asheville and Catawba Valley regions spanning across North Carolina, South Carolina and outside of the Carolinas. 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: 12/2/2022