What a difference a year makes!

Pending home sales soar despite rough winter – Charlotte real estate update

Charlotte’s real estate market is a flurry of activity! Listings are down and buyers are hungry for more listings! Active single family home listings have dropped in the Charlotte (proper)-Mecklenburg Country area to 2,218. As well, there are 1,988 homes that are in Escrow with Contracts pending.

This CNBC article “Pending Home Sales Soar Despite Rough Winter” reflects that national stats are also very positive. Locally, 40% improvement year-over-year is welcomed music to many Charlotte home sellers’ ears. Recent sellers of ours placed their home on the market and before the professional photographer could even get out to the property to snap the photos and video, the home was SOLD!

As one of our sellers told us this week, “I knew that the market was turning but, never expected multiple Offers AND to have my home sold in ONE day!” Home sellers are elated with the change and we feel strongly that the spring market, just a few weeks away, will be one of the best since 2005.

The distressing news for Charlotte home buyers, however, is that they are a bit frustrated because there is just not enough inventory available. Many of the mid-range buyers are having great difficulty--especially in the historic communities. High end sales (over $1M) are still slow but, our prediction is that this will turn around for them in the spring.

If you’re thinking of selling your Charlotte NC home, we have buyers in specific areas with broad specifications as follows:

Historic communities (Myers Park, Dilworth, Elizabeth, Eastover)
SouthPark area (Foxcroft, Carmel Park, Stonecroft, Cotswold and Mountainbrook)
3-5 bedrooms
2, preferably 3+ baths
UPDATED kitchens and baths
Hardwood floors are a MUST for most buyers

The condition of your Charlotte home for sale is imperative! Buyers want move-in ready and do not want to modify, replace or renovate! So, if you’re thinking of selling and have a home in any these areas, we may just have that buyer for you! Let us know if you’re ready to list your Charlotte home. Although the remodeling buyers are creeping into the market slowly now, we do anticipate that market to boom in the spring as the high-end market should.

Hard winter weather across much of the US apparently did not deter home buyers. Contracts to buy existing homes in January rose to the highest reading since April 2010.

From CNBC insight:

“Contracts to buy existing homes in January rose a strong 4.5 percent from the previous month, according to the National Association of Realtors, which also revised December’s numbers down. That beats expectations of a 1.8 percent gain. Volume is now 9.5 percent above January 2012 and is the highest reading since April 2010. This as closed sales of existing homes, where contracts were signed toward the end of last year, were basically flat.”

See on Scoop.it – Real Estate Across America
See on www.cnbc.com