While the Charlotte housing market shows signs of softening, homes in the region that are priced affordably are becoming increasingly difficult to find.
Home buyers and renters in the eight-county region are entering a second year of high prices and a lack of affordable housing, according to the “2022 State of Housing in Charlotte Report,” which was released by UNC Charlotte’s Childress Klein Center for Real Estate (CKCRE) this week.
According to the report, only 3.8% of the houses sold in the region are under $150,000 and only about 25% of the houses sold are under $300,000. The report also found a rapid acceleration in rental prices. Over the last three years, average effective rent has increased by $320, or 27% per unit.
“In particular, the prices at the lower end of the distribution have increased much faster than at the higher end, causing significant concerns for housing affordability in the region,” said Yongqiang Chu, CKCRE director and the primary author of the housing report.
Key takeaways from the report:
- Houses priced affordably have become extremely difficult to find. Only 3.8% of the houses sold are under $150,000 and only about 25% of the houses sold are under $300,000.
- While the housing market continues to be tight, it has shown some signs of softening since the summer of 2022. The median number of days on the market has increased from three days in May 2022 to nine days in September 2022.
- House prices increased at an unprecedented rate during the pandemic. The median home prices in the Charlotte market increased from $273,500 in January 2020 to $420,000 in September 2022.
- Middle-income housing affordability is becoming a significant challenge for the region. The rising interest rates and house prices have made housing quickly unaffordable in the Charlotte region.
CKCRE’s 2022 research report also includes an in-depth review of housing in the Charlotte region over the last 20 years.
The report, which pulls from seven primary data sources, focuses on Mecklenburg County and the seven counties that surround it: Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, and Union counties, as well as Lancaster and York counties in South Carolina.
The report was released at the 2022 State of Housing in Charlotte Summit. The summit also included an industry panel discussion that focused on affordable housing.
First released in 2019, the report is part of a multi-year project, led by Belk College of Business faculty, that serves as a critical piece of research and starting point for discussion regarding housing policy in the Charlotte region.