December 19, 2023

Contact: Kim Walker, 704-940-3149

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The market update for November reveals a year-over-year decrease of 4.9 percent in closed sales, ending the month with 272 transactions compared to 286 in the same month last year. Additionally, the region saw a 10.2 percent drop from October 2023, accounting for 31 fewer closed sales. The sales data in this report is sourced from Canopy MLS and encompasses single-family homes, condos, and townhomes sold in Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, and Catawba Counties.

In November 2023, there was a notable 22 percent increase in new listings compared to the previous year, with a total of 405 properties entering the market. This represents 73 additional listings over November 2022 and marks the highest number of new listings for November since 2019. Despite this annual growth, there was a minor month-over-month decrease of 1.5 percent, equating to six fewer listings than the previous month. November also marked the fourth consecutive month of decline within the year. Nonetheless, the quantity of new listings remained above the average for the last twelve months. All four counties in the region saw year-over-year increases.

The median sales price of $280,500 was a 12.2 percent increase compared to November 2022. Despite this growth, there was a modest month-over-month decrease of 2.6 percent from October's median sales price of $288,000. The average sales price in the Catawba Region stood at $322,237, which indicates a 6.9 percent increase from the previous year. Sellers continued to receive amounts close to their asking prices, with the ratio of the original list price to the sales price at 95.6 percent, a slight improvement of 0.2 percent over the last year. Throughout 2023, sellers generally secured 96.4 percent of their asking prices when closing sales.

"Housing demand and new listings have remained strong this fall despite mortgage rates. We really saw a shift in inventory the past couple months as homeowners opted to list their properties to take advantage of the sustained buyer interest.” said Emily Wood, a Realtor®/broker with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Foothills and president of Catawba Valley Association of Realtors®. 

In November, buyer demand increased 14.3 percent over the previous year, resulting in 287 properties going under contract. This rise represents the second consecutive year-over-year increase since March 2022. However, there was a 12.5 percent decrease in contracts when compared to October, translating to 41 fewer units entering into agreements. Contract activity increased across the region except Burke County, which experienced a slight 5.3 percent decline when compared to November 2022.

The November Showings report indicated that the year-over-year foot traffic for the Catawba Valley Region held constant, with an average of 3.6 showings per listing. However, there was a month-over-month decline of 7.8 percent, resulting in 442 fewer showings during November. Catawba County had the highest buyer interest of the four counties with 4.0 showings per listing. Newton and Hickory remained at the top of buyers lists, with 4.5 and 4.3 showings per listing respectively.

Wood noted, “With the recent news of pending rate drops in the new year, we are seeing more clients interested in moving forward with buying and selling. We need to see an influx of new properties in order for prices to remain steady in 2024.”

Over the last year, the average time to sell a property has marginally increased by 7.4 percent, rising from 27 to 29 days. Examining the data by property type reveals more significant shifts: Condos now take an average of 43 days to sell, which is a substantial increase of 126.3 percent from the previous year. Single-family homes have a typical sale time of 32 days, reflecting a 45.5 percent increase year-over-year. Townhomes, on the other hand, sell the fastest, averaging just 21 days on the market, which is a steep 90.9 percent increase from the prior year.

November 2023 represents the seventh straight month of rising inventory levels, as well as the third consecutive annual increase. The month closed with 751 properties on the market, evidencing a 9.8 percent increase compared to the same period last year and a 7.0 percent rise from the previous month. Notably, almost 20 percent of the homes for sale in November were new construction with the majority of those being single-family homes.

This month, there was a 15 percent increase in months of supply, reaching 2.3 months. Additionally, this was the fourth consecutive month of increases. To break it down by property type, there was 2.2 months of supply for Single-Family homes, 2.3 months of supply for Townhomes, and 3.5 months of supply for Condos.
 

A closer look at sales across the four counties:

(Due to smaller sample sizes in counties where there is a smaller pool of listings, percentage increases or decreases may seem extreme)

Alexander County home sales in November Home sales experienced a 20 percent decrease from the previous year, with 20 homes sold compared to 25 sold in November of the prior year. Pending contract activity slightly increased with 14 homes under contract verses 12 homes under contract a year ago.  New listing activity also increased this month by 57.9 percent year-over-year as sellers brought 30 homes to market. Inventory rose to 56 units compared to 44 the previous year. This equates to 2.6 months of supply which is up from 1.7 months of supply this time last year. The median sales price of $291,500 was down 10.3 percent year-over-year while the average sales price of $360,813 decreased by 4.8 percent compared to last year. Increasing this month was the average list price, rising 14.9 percent to $346,713 bringing the original list price to sales price measure down slightly to 96.3 percent. Days on market declined slightly by 10.7 percent, as homes averaged 25 days on market until sale compared to 28 days on market in November 2022. 

Burke County experienced increases in most metrics except pending sales and days on market. Home sales in November were up 20 percent year-over-year as 54 homes sold compared to 45 that sold in November 2022. The median sales price increased 10 percent year-over-year to $247,500, the average sales price rose 7.8 percent to $273,556, while the average list price increased 5.6 percent year-over-year to $322,518. The original list price to sales price measure increased slightly 0.5 percent to 96.8 percent in November compared to 96.3 percent in November 2022.

Pending contract activity decreased 5.3 percent to 54 homes under contract during the month compared to 57 during the same period last year. New listings rose by 19.7 percent as sellers brought 79 homes to market compared to 66 in November 2022. Inventory increased to 143 homes for sale or 2.2 months of supply. In November 2022 months of supply was at 1.8 months. Days on market decreased 37.1 percent to 22 days in November compared to 35 days this time last year.

Caldwell County saw decreases in closed sales and percent of list price received this month while experiencing increases in all other areas. Pending sales rose 37 percent year-over-year with 74 homes in contract compared to 54 in November 2022. Closed sales decreased 15.8 percent year-over-year as 48 homes sold during the month compared to 57 in November 2022.

New listing activity increased substantially by 39 percent with 82 properties listed, versus 54 in 2022. Inventory rose significantly 37.3 percent to 151 homes for sale at report time or 2.4 months of supply. The median sales price increased 5 percent year-over-year to $220,500, the average sales price rose 7.8 percent to $287,162, while the average list price increased 4.8 percent year-over-year to $306,656. This brought the original list price to sales price measure down from 95.9 percent to 92.2 percent while days on market until sale showed homes averaged 34 days on market versus 21 days on market in November 2022.  

Catawba County closed sales decreased 5.7 percent year-over-year as 150 homes sold compared to 159 that sold in November 2022, while pending contract activity increased 13.3 percent to 145 homes under contract during the month. New listings saw a 13.8 percent year-over-year climb to 214 homes listed compared to 188 that were newly listed in November 2022. Inventory held steady with 401 homes for sale at report time or 2.3 months of supply. The median sales increased again this year by 22.2 percent to $306,750 while the average sales price rose 9.7 percent to $345,843. The average list price increased 19.9 percent to $414,906. This brought the original list price to sales price measure to 96.1 percent compared to 94.8 percent in November 2022. Days on market rose from 26 days in November 2022 to 31 days on market in November 2023.

For more residential-housing market statistics, visit www.CarolinaHome.com and click on “Market Data.” For an interview with a Realtor®/broker representing the Canopy MLS service area in the western/mountain region of North Carolina, 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: 12/19/2023