Charlotte area home sales decreased again in October, by 9.8%, marking six months straight of decline.
But despite the lack of inventory and increasing prices, there could still be hope for the buyers and sellers in the Charlotte area, said Jason Gentry, president of the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association.
"We are optimistic that sales in the market will continue at a steady pace based on positive pending sales and new listing activity," Gentry said in a news release.
Last month, the Charlotte metro area, which includes 12 counties in North Carolina and four in South Carolina, saw 3,617 properties sold, according to Carolina Multiple Listing Services data. That's down from 4,012 properties sold in October 2017.
Prices rose year over year, but dropped slightly compared with September.
Average sales price in October 2018 was $278,634, a 6% increase from October 2017. The median sales price increased 5% to $231,000, for the same time period.
Meanwhile, the average sales prices decreased 1% and the median sales price decreased 1.7% for October, compared with September.
A major contributor in a decline of sales has been a lack of inventory in the Charlotte area. In part, that's because potential sellers have hesitated to put their properties on the market, because they could not find a home in their price-range to buy.
Inventory continued to fall in October, with 10,055 properties for sale, down 8.7% compared with a year ago.
But Gentry pointed to new listings as hope for the market.
New residential listings increased 6.9% in October to 4,796 properties for sale. Compared with September 2018, new listings rose 10.7%.
Pending sales hit 4,091 an increase of 5% year over year and 11.8% compared with September.
