Charlotte-area home sales at 8-year high

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Although home sales in the Charlotte market dropped off in August from July, they are at an eight-year high for the first eight months of the year, according to RealtyTrac.

Sales of single-family residences and condos grew to 22,262 between January and August, up nearly 16 percent from the same period in 2014, when there were 19,553 home sales in the region.

The last time the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia area saw more home purchases was in 2007, when 28,539 single-family residences and condos were bought in the first eight months of the year.

Local sales fell 11 percent in August from July, the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association says, because of delayed closings that normally occur during summer vacation time. Figures will rebound in September, said CRRA President Maren Brisson-Kuester, when schedules return to normal.

The rise in home sales through the first eight months of the year reflects a trend occurring across the country. According to a survey of 204 metros by data analytics firm RealtyTrac, 54 percent, or 110 cities, have hit an eight-year peak in home sales this year. Nearly 30 percent reached home-sales levels not seen in nine years.  Another 11 percent have reached 10-year highs.

“The continued strength in sales volume across a wide spectrum in August indicates that shockwaves from recent global stock market instability have not weakened the housing recovery and in fact there is evidence that the instability has fueled more demand for U.S. real estate,” says RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist.

Markets with the biggest annual growth in August home sales include Salt Lake City, 31.6 percent; Portland, Oregon, 22.2 percent; Minneapolis-St. Paul, 19.2 percent; and Jacksonville, Florida, up 16.6 percent. The Charlotte area ranked 52nd out of the 204 metros, with a cumulative eight-month growth rate of 15.9 percent in August from a year earlier.

As in the Charlotte area, national home sales declined between July and August, by 4.8 percent to 5.3 million, the National Association of Realtors said recently. Annual sales were up 6.2 percent in August.

RealtyTrac’s most recent report also indicates that the Charlotte region’s strong investor activity is waning. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia still has one of the highest shares of institutional investor purchases in the country, with 3.3 percent of all homes going to entities that purchase at least 10 properties in a year. But that’s down from 10.5 percent in August 2014.

Charlotte has in recent years lured institutional investors, the majority of whom pay cash for discounted distressed properties, because local home prices are relatively affordable and the region is expected to be one of the nation’s fastest-growing over the next couple of decades, meaning potentially greater long-term gains for investors in the rental market.

Nationally, investor purchases accounted for 1 percent of all single-family and condo deals in August, down from 3.2 percent a year ago, RealtyTrac says. Markets with a higher share of institutional activity than Charlotte include the Washington, D.C., area, at 4.1 percent, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida, at 4.7 percent; and Omaha, Nebraska, at 6.1 percent.

Local distressed sales have dropped off along with slowing investor activity. Purchases of lender-owned and in-foreclosure residences made up 9.6 percent of all Charlotte-area home sales in August, down from 12.6 percent a year ago. Nationally, those figures dropped to 8.9 percent last month from 12.2 percent a year ago. Markets with the highest share of distressed sales were Chicago, 16.4 percent; Milwaukee, 16.1 percent; and Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville, Florida, each at 15.4 percent.

Other findings from the RealtyTrac report include:

*Metros with the highest share of cash sales in August were Miami, 48.7 percent; New York, 44.7 percent; Las Vegas, 42.2 percent; and Raleigh, 39.6 percent. The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia portion of cash sales was at 28 percent last month, down from 34 percent a year earlier. Nationally, cash transactions accounted for 24.5 percent of home sales in August, a decline from 26.7 percent in August 2014.

*The biggest decreases in year-over-year home sales were in Cleveland, down 13.8 percent; Baltimore, down 12.1 percent; Cincinnati, down 11.8 percent; and Chicago, down 10.4 percent.