Housing slowdown hits locally in early 2009

Home prices here dipped the first half of 2009, as the national housing slowdown finally tightened its grip on Charlotte. The average single family home sold in Mecklenburg County through Carolina Multiple Listing Services closed for $214,476 during the first six months of the year, down more than 15 percent from the same period in 2008. Prices essentially were flat for the same period last year.

From January through June 2008, average prices were down less than 1 percent from the first half of 2007, even as the slowdown hammered prices in other cities across the country. Unofficially, Charlotte's regional MLS reaches more than 50 miles in every direction, plus vacation homes at the beach and mountains.

Mecklenburg traditionally accounts for about half of sales. Other counties officially in the MLS are Union, Iredell, Lincoln, Cabarrus, Gaston and Stanly. Suburban development spills across the county line into Union and Cabarrus, and in 2008 those counties saw prices rise slightly the first half of the year. This year, though, they were down, too. The average price in Union was $266,892, down almost 6 percent, and the average single family home sold for $180,880 in Cabarrus, down about 8 percent. The Charlotte Regional Realtor Association, which operates the MLS, has added a new online tool that allows you to look at recent sales by neighborhood. To view sales in your neighborhood, and more sales statistics, visit www.carolinahome.com.

Allen Norwood

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