Existing Home Sales Drop in North Carolina

Existing-home sales in the Charlotte area dropped slightly in September.

As mortgage loan applicants stayed quiet, the city’s housing market posted a 2 percent decrease in previously owned homes, which include single-family houses, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, from September 2005.

According to the N.C. Association of Realtors, 3,654 existing homes were sold last month, down from 3,740 in September 2005.

The average sales price last month remained flat at $215,998. Statewide, total existing-home sales fell 4 percent from the 12,194 units sold in September 2005.

Overall, this has been year of transition for the N.C. housing market, along with home sales nationwide. Home sales around the state saw double-digit growth during the first three months of the year but remained flat in April, according to the Realtors Association. Since then, sales have seen slight increases some months and declines in other months.

Through the first nine months of the year, home sales in North Carolina are up 5 percent over 2005. There’s been an uptick in those applying for home mortgages because rates have stopped rising.

However, nationwide, home sales have dropped 12.6 percent through August and this is still considered a slow down.