Friday, April 13, 2012

Charlotte Regional Realtors Report Home Sales Increasing

The Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association reports on the residential
real estate market in this region based on Carolina Multiple Listing
Services, Inc. (CMLS) data. The number of closings for March 2012
(2,098) increased 10.4 percent compared to March 2011, when closings
totaled 1,900.

Both the average and median sales price showed positive increases. The
average sales price in March 2012 ($196,182) was up by 0.4 percent
compared to the same period last year ($195,336), and the median sales
price ($154,000), the best measure of trends over a period of time,
showed prices up by 3.5 percent compared to March 2011 when the median
sales price was $148,728.

The average list price in March 2012 ($265,741) increased 7.8 percent
when compared to the average list price for the same period last year
($246,520), bringing the percent of original list price received
measure to 91.3 percent as compared to 88.2 percent last March. March
2012 pending contracts totaled 2,309, an increase of 5.3 percent over
last March's pending contracts (2,193) for the CMLS region.

New residential listings in March 2012 totaled 4,736, down 9.1 percent
compared to the same period last year when new listings totaled 5,211.
Overall inventory continued its downward trend, down 20.8 percent
compared to March 2011, leaving the CMLS region with a 9.4 months
supply of homes for sale as compared to 13 months supply during the
same time last year. The average number of days a property was on the
market from the time it was listed until it closed (list to close)
totaled 150, which is a decrease of six days when compared to last
March when the list to close count totaled 156 days.

The share of new listings that were distressed in March was 12.4
percent, compared to 20.6 percent the previous year. 15.8 percent of
all closed sales in February were distressed, compared to 33.4 percent
in March 2011.

For more residential-housing market statistics, visit the
association's website at www.CarolinaHome.com and click on "Community
Data." For an interview with 2012 association/CMLS President Jennifer
Frontera, please contact Kim Walker.

The Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association is a trade association
that leads, educates and equips members to be productive. It provides
more than 6,600 Realtor® members with the resources and services
needed to conduct ethical, professional, successful and profitable
businesses. The association is dedicated to being the region's primary
resource for residential real estate information. The association
operates the Carolina Multiple Listing Services, Inc. (CMLS), which
has approximately 7,200 Subscribers and is the private cooperative
Realtors® use for access to tens of thousands of residential listings
in a 10-county service area, including the high-growth Charlotte area,
as well as listings outside this service area.