Housing Market Shifting In Favor Of Sellers In Charlotte, NC.?

The housing market seems to be finally shifting upward. it looks like the pendulum is moving away from the buyers and back toward the sellers. not that the sellers can now demand a higher price or sit back and wait for multiple offers....But it had sung so far in favor of the buyers in the past few years that it is showing a sign of going back to the seller. How do I evaluate what the market is doing? Each area of the country is different. You have to look at where you want to buy and see how the numbers are changing for the buyer or the seller. Some guidelines to use in whether the area is showing signs of improvement are the average sale price of all homes that sold in the area. is that number higher or lower than it was last year and the years before? In the Charlotte, NC. market the average sale price is up 1.8% from last year to $206,416. That number is 3.6% higher than two years ago as well. So it is showing a trend where the average price is rising in the area. Another guideline that is one of the most agreed upon barometer of the market is the inventory of homes for sale. In an ideal balanced market there should be six months’ worth of inventory. Basically based on sales if nothing new went on the market all the homes would sell in 6 months. At the peak of the recession that number was as high as 18 to 20 months’ worth of inventory. Currently we are sitting at a 8.9 month supply of homes. That is a dramatic decrease of over 30% from last year and 45% from two years ago. Third, I like to look at closed sales transactions. Inventory can be argued is down because sellers get frustrated with the market and pull their homes off the market waiting for it to get better. Closed sales are a good indication of what is selling. Closed transactions are up 15% this year over last year and over 23% from 2 years ago. A strong indicator that more people are out buying homes in the Charlotte, NC. market right now. last is to look at foreclosures and short sales. these are the distressed properties and their numbers can give a good indication of where the market is headed. if they are steady or going up we could be in trouble....Foreclosure sales are down for the second consecutive year right now. Two years ago they dropped 6.5% and last year to now they are down 7% that is almost a 14% drop in foreclosure sales in the charlotte market over the past two years..... Short sales are on the rise and banks are getting better at handling them. They are up 28%. But those numbers tend to be closer to actual fair market value than a foreclosure..... When you look at all the scenarios involved and the trend is pointing one way across the board you have to know that the market is heading in that direction. We all know it could stay low forever; and noone just knew when the bottom was going to hit. Well it looks like we hit it a few months ago and are starting the climb back to a balanced market again. Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker Coldwell Banker United www.davedicecco.com