There’s no denying that it’s been a tough market in Lake Norman & Lake Wylie. Of all the major CMLS areas, 13 (LKN) and 15 (LKW) have the most inventory (based on absorption rate) — in fact, they are almost identical at 17.8 months. But looking inside the numbers, we see some interesting trends.
First, we look northward to Lake Norman:
Monthly sales activity is actually up about 10% from 2009, which sets it apart from most of CMLS, where prices are up, but activity is down. Thus far in 2010, about 63 houses are selling per month, compared to about 57/mo in 2009.
However, unlike the rest of CMLS prices in 2010 are flat compared to 2009 — down about half a percent. The average house in 2010 sold for $466,800, compared to $468,300 in 2009. Still, it’s only down 1.5% from 2008.
Now, let’s examine Lake Wylie:
It’s actually a very similar trend to Lake Norman! Monthly sales activity is up, but by a whopping 15%! In 2009, about 21 houses per month sold in LKW, but in 2010 that number is up to almost 25.
But unlike LKN, prices are up in Lake Wylie for 2010, by about 7%. However, compared to 2008, prices are down about 12% — a much larger drop than Lake Norman.
It’s important to remember that Lake Wylie has fewer homes than Lake Norman, so the sample is smaller. But it’s almost eerie how similar these trends are, given that these two lakes represent very different areas of metro Charlotte. However, the activity increase from 2009 is encouraging, given that most other areas of CMLS are seeing less activity this year.
Posted via email from Charlotte real estate technology, IDX, market data
