Even as prices rise in many communities, homes are selling faster now than they have in the past several years. This creates a situation where buyers need to move fast in order to secure homes, and they may have to pay more for them. While increasing prices generally coax more selling activity, there has been some hesitancy among potential sellers who worry that they will not be able to buy a desirable and reasonably priced home once they sell.
New Listings were down in the Charlotte region 3.4 percent to 5,075. Pending Sales increased 20.4 percent to 4,543. Inventory shrank 23.0 percent to 11,290 units. Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 8.5 percent to $217,000. Months Supply of Homes for Sale was down 29.5 percent to 3.1 months, indicating that demand increased relative to supply.
Low housing supply has already prevented an outright national boon in sales activity, despite a continuation of near record-low mortgage rates and an unemployment rate under 5.0 percent deep into 2016. The issue is not purchasing power. Many areas are falling behind last year’s closed sales totals simply because of lack of available inventory. As this continues, higher prices may put a deeper squeeze on the current buyer pool.