Real estate is a supply and demand game, and the Charlotte region felt the crunch of low inventory in March with year-over-year sales dropping 1.4%.
The Charlotte Regional Realtor Association’s March figures released April 8 listed residential sales of 3,254 properties, down from 3,301 homes in March 2015.
It stands to reason sales are down when inventory for same period dropped 27.8%. According to CRRA’s report, the region has just 2.8 months of market inventory, with 10,145 properties for sale. Monthly inventory rose 2.1% or 210 listings.
This remarkably low inventory shifts the advantage to the seller. Typically, 6 months of inventory is what is called a “balanced” market, where the inventory level favors neither the buyer or seller. More than 6 months is considered a buyer’s market; less than 6 months is a seller’s market.
Year-ago inventory levels were nearly 4.5 months or 14,046 properties for sale.
“The CarolinaMLS region, much like the nation, continues with low inventory, which has resulted in a slow start to the spring selling season. However, from a quarterly perspective the region’s home sales are on par with last spring, up 0.3 percent compared to the first quarter of 2015,” said CarolinaMLS President Maren Brisson-Kuester.
Monthly sales increased nearly 39% over February’s levels, however, and the average list price rose nearly 29% to $368,292 from March 2015.
Other area inventory levels also dropped considerably – Inventory for the City of Charlotte fell almost 36% to 2,172. For all of Mecklenburg County, inventory dropped 33.1% to 2,944, and Union County inventory is down 25.6% to 888 in March 2016.