August 16, 2021

Contact: Kim Walker, 704-940-3149

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Home sales across the Charlotte region, lost momentum in July, falling 10.5 percent below sales a year ago, with 5,189 homes sold, compared to 5,796 homes sold in July 2020. July 2020 was the peak month of sales for the Charlotte region last year and the first month of positive year-over-year sales after a series of pandemic-induced lockdowns that started in mid-March and didn’t ease until the end of May 2020, effectively sidelined the spring market, rendering depressed year-over-year sales in April, May and June 2020. 

At report time, Canopy MLS July 2020 release of data showed 5,469 homes were sold. Because data by Canopy MLS is constantly updated, revisions to last July’s report now includes 327 additional closed sales that should have been included in July 2020 sales figures. The revised and updated July 2020 closed sales figure of 5,796 in the July 2021 monthly reports, reflects the sheer volume of housing transactions that occurred after three months of negative year-over-year sales, due the pandemic and the inability of Realtors® to conduct business during mandated lockdowns.

Month-over-month comparisons show July 2021 closed sales down 5.7 percent, compared to June 2021. Sales reflected in Canopy MLS data includes housing types single-family and condo/townhome data only.

2021 Canopy Realtor® Association/Canopy MLS President David Kennedy said, “Even though sales slowed this past July, it’s still too early to say whether Charlotte’s housing market is experiencing a shift. One month of sales activity doesn’t necessarily show a trend. The pandemic and resulting lockdowns during the crucial spring market last year, brought sales transactions to a near stand-still until the end of May and pushed buyer and seller activity into summer, resulting in July being a peak month of sales activity last year.”

Pending sales were positive in July, rising 1 percent year-over-year, with activity roughly on par with pending sales activity this time last year. The metric that gauge’s buyer demand, showed 5,522 homes went under contract during the month of July 2021, compared to 5,466 in July 2020. Contract activity compared to the previous month (June 2021) was down 2.3 percent. Year-to-date pending contract activity shows buyer demand is still healthy, rising 10.6 percent over year-to-date activity during the first seven months of 2020.

New listing activity increased 5.2 percent year-over-year as sellers listed 6,282 homes for sale during the month of July, marking the fourth month of rising seller confidence and improvement in listing activity.  Compared to June 2021, new listing activity is up 2.2 percent. This continued increase in activity should help buyers with more choice in the short term, however it does very little to improve the overall inventory situation, which is still challenged.

Inventory fell 42.2 percent year-over-year in July, leaving 4,073 homes for sale at report time, or 0.8 months of supply (approximately 24 days of supply). July’s inventory figure represents a slight improvement over last month, when supply dipped to 0.7 months or approximately 21 days in June.

“Though inventory continues to be a challenge, the small, steady improvement we’re seeing in new listing activity will be of some help to buyers that are still looking for homes, while low mortgage rates can help off-set costs,” Kennedy said. “The complexities of this type of housing market coupled with a narrow window of opportunity, really means that buyers and sellers benefit most when using a Realtor®.”

Prices continue to rise in relation to inventory with all price indices seeing increases.  Both the median sales price ($331,000) and the average sales price ($400,026) rose 16.1 percent each, compared to last year, while the average list price increased 8.6 percent year-over-year to $396,835, bringing the original list price to sales price ratio to 101.8 percent in July 2021.  In the Canopy MLS June 2021 report, we noted that the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) research showed that the median sales price is being skewed upward due to the large amount of upper-end home sales.

This phenomenon continues to play out in local data, which showed that of the 5,189 homes sold in July 2021, only 1,383 homes were in the price range of $250,000 and below, while the remaining 3,806 homes were priced higher than $250,000.

The breakdown of sales by price range is as follows: 172 homes sold in the price range of $120,000 & below; 161 homes sold in the price range of $120,001 to $150,000; 314 homes sold in the price range of $150,001 to $190,000; 736 homes sold in the price range of $190,001 to $250,000; 1,501 homes sold in the price range of $250,001 to $350,000; 1,271 homes sold in the price range of $350,001 to $500,000; 840 homes sold in the price range of $500,001 to $999,999 and 194 homes sold in the $1 million and up range.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist notes in the most recent existing-home sales report, “At a broad level, home prices are not in danger of decline due to tight inventory conditions, but I do expect prices to appreciate at a slower pace by the end of the year,” Noting further, “Ideally, the costs for a home would rise roughly in line with income growth, which is likely to happen in 2022 as more listings and new construction become available.”

 July 2021 data showed days on market until sale continued to trend lower, with data showing properties on market an average of 14 days compared to 37 days on market in July 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.

The Canopy Realtor® Association is a trade association that provides its more than 16,000 Realtor® members with the resources and services they need to conduct ethical, professional, successful and profitable businesses. The Association is dedicated to being the region's primary resource for residential real estate information. The Association operates Canopy MLS, which has more than 21,000 subscribers and is the private cooperative Realtors® use for access to tens of thousands of residential listings in a 16-county service area, including Charlotte, 13 counties in the mountains of North Carolina as well as the Rock Hill area of South Carolina.

Original Publish Date: 8/17/2021