As the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to widen, the Charlotte area housing market saw its largest drop in home sales last month in over a decade, new data from the local real estate association show.
Home sales fell 21% in April from the same time last year, in what is typically one of the busiest months of the year, the Canopy Realtor Association reported Monday. The last time the region had a larger drop was in June 2009, according to a Canopy analysis.
Mecklenburg County's stay-at-home order, which expired at the end of April, had prohibited showing homes unless they were vacant.
Those restrictions limited the real estate market, said John Kindbom, this year's president of the Canopy Realtor Association/Canopy MLS. His organization had pushed to allow for more showings.
Still, Kindbom said the loss wasn't as dramatic as what the association was expecting.
He said the fact that so many people are moving to the region, and had to purchase a house, likely insulated Charlotte's real estate market somewhat from even greater losses.
While the last economic recession was marked by falling real estate prices, so far prices in the Charlotte region continue to rise amid the area's housing shortage.
The median sales price of $275,000 was 8.1% higher than last April's price, as inventory of homes fell by a quarter. "We still have a seller's market," Kindbom said.
Now that Mecklenburg County is under a statewide stay-at-home order, showings can be conducted if social distancing and other rules are followed. Kindbom said that, and the slow reopening of the economy, is helping the real estate market start to pick up.
