This past week our listings saw an average of 1.8 showing each.  Showing traffic does seem to be picking up very slightly and I expect that trend to continue into September as families get back into their normal school routines.  Seasonally, we usually see a slight increase in sales activity when school starts and then it dies back down again in November as priorities shift towards the holidays.

The media outlook for the housing market and the economy in general has been bleak lately.  We all know we aren’t supposed to pay too much attention to the media and I think now is a perfect time to follow that advice.  I do not believe that the current markets are as dark as they media portrays them.The financial markets and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been hovering just about 10,000 for a few months now.  Although there are days of gloom & doom with irrational drops, there have been equally as many rises to bring the index back to stable.    I’m not a financial market guru but the trend seems to be indicating stabilization there.

From a real estate perspective, the National Association of Realtors reported today that pending sales have modestly risen since the decline immediately following the tax credit expiration.  That is right in line with my prior predictions that July would see a short term valley due to less demand post tax credit.

That pending sales increase has not yet made it to the Charlotte market.  As of today, pending home sales are down very slightly from two weeks ago when I lasted report them in my monthly E-newsletter.  However, Charlotte tends to lag the broader market.  So hopefully the national trend will find its way to Charlotte soon.