Charlotte sellers receive 96% of the asking price—a 4% drop as listings rise 10% and sales fall 8%.
Have you ever felt like selling your Charlotte home is more challenging than finding the perfect parking spot downtown? A lot of sellers have struggled to find success in this market, and the stats bear this out. That’s why today, I’m bringing you my August 2024 housing market update and explaining how sellers can still win despite recent shifts. The Charlotte housing market continues to exhibit dynamic shifts that are crucial for buyers and sellers to understand. Here are some of the metrics I’m seeing:
New listings are up, but sales are down. New listings are up 10% this year compared to last. Last year, we had about 4,600 new listings in August, and now we have about 5,000. Pending sales have also increased from 3,500 last year to 3,800. But here’s the exciting part: we’re down in closed sales. We’re down almost 10% from last year—a whopping 8.3%. This means the inventory being put up for sale isn’t selling as quickly, or some isn’t selling.
“More price reductions than new listings indicate a market shift sellers can’t ignore.”
Sellers receive 96% of the asking price. Looking at the percent of the original list price received, if you priced your property at $500,000 with your agent, are you getting that $500,000 mark? The numbers show that you’re not; you’re getting about 96% of the value. This indicates a 4% drop in market value for properties priced on the market.
There have been more price reductions than new listings. Here’s another interesting fact: in the last seven days, 1,336 new listings went up, but 1,739 price reductions. What does that mean? You have more price reductions than actual new listings, which suggests that a ton of inventory is not selling.
What can sellers do? Sellers and agents ask me, “John, what do we do now? What’s the trick to getting these listings sold?” You have two options. Option one is to go in at market value and go through the natural steps of either hoping it sells within the first week or two or doing a price-reduction schedule over the next four to six weeks. Option two, if you want to be motivated to get it done, is to come 5% below market value. Most of you reading this have probably made a ton of equity on your property. So, taking a 5% cut to move on to the next chapter of your life isn’t a big deal. You just have to have the expectation set from the beginning. When we meet with our clients and sellers, that’s what we tell them during our listing presentation and our discussion about what it will take to sell their home.
This August, the Charlotte housing market saw an increasing inventory and pending sales but closed transactions and property values declined. Reach outif you want to know what your home is worth, or have that conversation with me or someone from my team. Staying informed and adaptable will be vital to thriving in Charlotte’s competitive housing environment.
