Home sales in the Charlotte region plunged again last month, falling more than 18% in June compared with the same month last year, continuing a months-long slide. But data released Thursday shows the average price for homes kept rising.
Those prices went up, rising on average 7.9%. That means the average house in the Charlotte region sold for almost $524,000.
In Mecklenburg County, the average price rose even more, jumping almost 10% to $638,000. The median sales price — which puts less weight on higher-priced sales than the average — rose to $480,000 in Mecklenburg, the highest median price on record.
The Realtor association said high mortgage rates and those elevated prices are pushing sales down — but there’s still enough demand, and limited enough supply, to keep prices going up.
There’s one bright spot for buyers: The number of homes on the market is increasing, meaning that prices could moderate, especially if mortgage rates fall.
“Even though overall sales activity during the first half of the year was lower than previous years, the Charlotte market is moving towards normalization and is healthier than previous years," said Charisma Southerland, president of the Canopy Association and a Realtor with Allen Tate.
The inventory of homes for sale increased almost 40%, to about 8,000. That marks the return to the level of inventory at the beginning of the pandemic, when the housing market was just starting its white-hot ascent.
Still, there are only about two months of supply on the market at the current sales rate. That's considered tight, with a balanced market typically described as four to six months' worth of supply.
