Feb. 15, 2023

Kim Walker, 704-940-3149

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Home sales across the Charlotte region continued to fall in January, declining 37.9 percent year-over-year as 2,261 homes sold throughout the 16-county region compared to 3,640 that sold at the start of 2022.  Month-over-month sales compared to December were down 26.2 percent as buyers and sellers continue to retreat from rising prices and mortgage rates that stalled year-over-year sales throughout 2022. January’s sales figures are nearly on par with sales at the beginning of January 2016. Sales included in this report, come from Canopy MLS and include single-family and condo-townhome data only, for the 16-county region.

Buyer demand as displayed by pending contract activity was down 12 percent year-over-year with 3,638 homes going under contract last month. Contract activity is typically seen as a strong predictor of future sales since those sales tend to close in 45-60 days. Month-over-month contract activity has increased 47.2 percent. Though contract activity has been depressed, showing activity across the Charlotte MSA was up 72 percent compared to December 2022, with active listings averaging nine showings (or potential buyers) per listing.  Buyer interest or showings were particularly strong in the price range of $200K to $300K, averaging 10 showings per listing in January. Overall, however showing activity is down 20 percent year-over-year.

New listings which tend to reflect seller confidence declined 20 percent year-over-year in January as sellers listed 3,184 homes for sale. Month-over-month new listing activity is up 31.7 percent. Should this month-over-month activity continue to build, inventory should continue to rise.

“Sales this past month reflect a housing market continuing to work its way back to normal, and we will likely continue to see this trend throughout the year.“ said Tiffany Johannes, 2023 president of Canopy Realtor® Association/Canopy MLS and General Manager, Broker-in-Charge, RE/MAX Executive said, “We are still in a very tight and challenging seller’s market, but sellers don’t have the same strong position that they’ve had in previous years, so pricing the home well will be key to attracting buyers and selling quickly.”

At report time, inventory increased 55.8 percent to 5,768 homes for sale compared to a little over 3,700 homes for sale at the start of 2023.  Months of supply increased 114.3 percent to 1.5 months, which reflects constrained supply and a strong seller’s market, which continues to pressure prices.

Both the median sales price ($375,000) and the average sales price ($417,430) rose 7.2 percent and 6.2 percent year-over-year respectively, while the average list price increased 7.2 percent year-over-year to $454,994. This brought the original list price to sales price measure to 94.5 percent in January, which is down 5.6 percent from last January’s 100.1 percent. 

Johannes continued, “Even though fluctuating rates and rising prices put a damper on January sales, buyers and sellers should be aware that we are starting to see multiple offer situations in a number of areas. Realtors® are encouraging buyers to ‘date the rate and marry the house.’ A number of lenders are offering strategies and programs like 2-1 Buydowns to help buyers with rates. Buyers and sellers should work with a Realtor® to plan for their move.®.”

Homes spent more time on market in January.  List to close increased 27.7 percent to 106 days compared to 83 days in January 2022, while days on market, the metric that accrues for “Active” and “Under-contract-show” statuses, showed homes averaged 46 days on market until sale compared to 23 days on market in January 2022.

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.

For more residential-housing market statistics, visit www.CarolinaHome.com and click on “Market Data.” For an interview with 2023 Association/Canopy MLS President Tiffany Johannes, Realtor®/Broker-in-charge with RE/MAX Executive Ballantyne, please contact Kim Walker.

Canopy Realtor® Association owns and operates Canopy MLS, the region’s primary source for accurate and timely property data in a multicounty service area including the Charlotte MSA, Asheville MSA and Catawba Valley region spanning across North Carolina and South Carolina to outside the Carolinas. Canopy MLS provides the latest technology, tools and analytics that Realtors® utilize to support consumers with their residential real estate transactions.   

Original Publish Date: 2/15/2023