Charlotte Home Sales on the Rebound

Home sales across the Charlotte region have rebounded from a weak spring, rising 3.7 percent in June from a year earlier, and 13.7 percent from May. Prices also showed growth from a year ago.

The Charlotte Regional Realtor Association said 3,631 properties were sold in the month, up from 3,502 in June 2013, based on data from Carolina Multiple Listing Services Inc.

“We are pleased to see sales rebounding in June after May’s decline. And the huge jump in pending contracts should signal strong sales in the coming months,” 2014 Association/CarolinaMLS President Joe Rempson said in a press release.

The average sales price ($257,854) increased 7.5 percent compared to the average sales price last June. The median sales price ($197,480) increased 7.3 percent compared to the median sales price for the same period last year. The average list price in June 2014 ($278,944) increased 10.5 percent over June 2013 ($252,478), bringing the percent of original list price received measure for June 2014 to 94.8 percent, a decrease of 0.3 percent when compared to the same period last year. Preliminary pending sales counts for the month of June totaled 3,871, an increase of 24.4 percent over the previous period when contracts totaled 3,111.

New residential listings increased in June, up 5.9 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Inventory declined 3.2 percent compared to June 2013, leaving the CarolinaMLS region with a 5.4-months’ supply of homes for sale.

“Inventory has been unchanged, fixed at 5.4 months’ supply for the past few months, which means prices across the region should most likely continue to increase as well," said Rempson.

The average number of days a property was on the market from the time it was listed until it closed (list to close) was 125 days, which is a decrease of three days compared to the same period last year. Days on market, the metric that accrues for “Active” and “Under Contract-Show” statuses only, totaled 73 days compared to 91 days last June.

Distressed activity (foreclosures and short sales) accounted for 6.1 percent of closed sales in June, down from 9.5 percent the same time last year.