This coming week our monthly E-newsletter will be published.    Below is  a sneak peek at what will be revealed about the real estate market in Mecklenburg County as of February 2008.

When considering February 2008 over the same period last year:

The number of homes sales are down 32.3%

Average sales price is up 6.7% to $248,344

Average days on market is up 16% to 86 days

Pending homes sales are down 37% (but up over Jan 2008 and Dec 2007)

Housing supply is up 43.5% to 7.75 months

Mortgage rates are down 5.88%

To summarize the data above, the market is bottoming out but should be on its way back up.   The number of home sales have hit a low, but the pending home sales  have been  up for two months in a row.   This means that the number of home sales should see an increase in the coming months.   Note that prices are still up, but this could definately be attributed to a few high priced sales skewing the averages.   The housing inventory has clearly shifted to a full blown buyers market;   a 6 month supply is consider balanced and anything over that is a buyers market.   We should expect to see a slowdown in price appreciation as a result.

The good news is that spring is here and Charlotte is a very seasonal market.   We have entered the prime listing and buying season and are sure to see an increase in sales simply due to improved weather.   Hopefully the spring surge will carry us through the bottom of the market and we’ll see a recovery by the time its over.

In the meantime, Happy St. Patty’s day and may the luck o’ the Irish be with you!