This week our listings saw 3.9 showings each on average. This is a huge increase in traffic over the past few weeks of January where we’ve been seeing about 2 showings each. The market does seem to be picking up some momentum as the weather improves and we head into spring. Our monthly E-Newsletter is ready and this month we have published the Mecklenburg County stats for January 2008. Here is a summary of the data:
1) The number of Mecklenburg County single family home sales hit a low of 727 in January; a 34% decrease over the same period last year.
2) Single family home prices in Mecklenburg County are down (7%) for the first time over the same period last year.
3) The housing supply is up to 7.03 months which indicates a shift to a buyer’s market.
All three of these points are little scary and tell us that we are experiencing a down market. Anyone surprised?
The reason I feel so inclined to emphasize the data this month is that there is a very silver lining to it all. If you look a bit more closely at the data, here’s what you’ll see:
1) Interest rates are as low as they’ve been in years.
2) Pending home sales are up over the previous month for the first time since April 2007.
I believe that the Pending Home Sales figure is the single most important to consider this month. The reason is that it’s a very good indication that we’ve reached the bottom of the market here in Charlotte. Pending home sales tell us what’s under contract, but not yet closed. It is a very accurate prediction of what will close in the next 30-60 days. With sales down and pending sales up, we have a clue that a pivotal point in our market has been reached.