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Is Help On The Way For Home Buyers and Renters?
After years of shrinking inventory and skyrocketing prices, the Charlotte real estate market may soon see more positive developments. The Biden administration has proposed measures addressing housing availability and affordability. The proposed plan will not only ease credit access to home buyers and home builders, but will also streamline the nation’s distressed supply lines of building materials. Many observers have noted that while the COVID pandemic disrupted supply lines, over-generous government stimulus packages spurred increased home-buying, which further reduced inventory.
Additionally, these new policies will provide assistance to renters, including facilitating increased residential density through changes in local zoning, which should boost the number of more affordable multi-family housing units. Another proposal will target corporate investors who have been snatching up single-family homes, further reducing options for home buyers.
These initiatives should accelerate emerging trends that should further cool an over-heated market. As of May 31, the inventory of homes for sale in the Charlotte area decreased to 4,319 homes, a drop of 531, or 12.3% from last May. The number of days on market until sale inched downward by 3 days to a new total of 14, a drop of 17.6%. However, the median sales price saw a hefty increase of $67,240, or 20.8%, to $391,240.
Real estate analysts anticipate rising interest rates and an overall slowdown in homebuying, combined with the administration’s proposed policies to boost home construction, should expand the inventory of homes for sale, providing much-needed relief to home buyers. Already, hikes in mortgage rates are slowing down sales activity. The National Association of Realtors reports that nationally, both existing home sales and pending sales are down. The Charlotte area will likely feel this trend in the coming months.
These are the overall numbers for the greater Charlotte Metro area. For more detail, see the reports for Charlotte, Matthews, and Huntersville.
