Homes sales during the month of January continued to trend downward, according to a Charlotte Regional Realtor Association press report.
Sales dropped 10.6% from year-ago figures to 2,039 from 2,280 in January 2015. Overall, sales are down 32.2% compared with December 2015.
Though sales are down, the average sales price of a home in the Carolina Multiple Listing Services Inc. (CMLS) database increased 7.3%. Currently, the average sales price is $229,766. The median sales price rose 7.8% ro $179,500 from year-ago prices.
The percent of original list price received for homes rose 1.5% to 94.7% of list price, which is reflective of the low inventory in the market.
Currently, there are 3,356 preliminary pending sales, an increase of 13% from last year at this time.
Holidays, bad weather and persistently low inventory could be the reason for the January drop in sales, according to CarolinaMLS President Maren Brisson-Kuester.
“However with pending sales up 13 percent, we know that buyers are still being drawn to the market,” Brisson-Kuester said.
Overall inventory is down to approximately 3 months across the market, and homes are on the market approximately 121 days from list to close.
Though the numbers are down for January from a year ago, building is booming and new business is moving in all the time. Sales trends should pick up with the temperatures, as spring tends to breath life into the market.