Charlotte among the toughest metros for first-time home buyers, LendingTree says

Charlotte is among the toughest metros in the country in which to be a first-time home buyer, according to a new analysis from LendingTree.

The region ranks among the 10 worst metropolitan areas out of the country’s 50 largest. Notoriously expensive markets like New York, San Francisco and Miami were in the top five of the “worst” list.

“With home prices skyrocketing, housing markets across the country are highly competitive,” the analysis read. “This can be challenging for would-be homebuyers, especially first-timers who are generally less prepared to take on local market competition.”

Charlotte tied with two other regions experiencing rapid growth, Denver and Austin, Texas, for the 10th-worst.

The analysis tracked several metrics to determine which markets were friendliest and most challenging for first time buyers, including average down payment amount, share of cost-burdened buyers (those spending more than 30% of income on housing) and share of buyers with credit scores below 680.

Metros determined to be friendliest to first-time buyers include Kansas City, Mo., Oklahoma City, Okla. and Louisville, Ky.

The scarcity of more modestly-priced homes on the market in the Charlotte region is not new. In June, the median home sales price in the Charlotte metropolitan area was $340,442, according to the latest data from Canopy Realtor Association. That region includes a 10-county area in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Other factors that make the Charlotte market so competitive:

• Homes were on the market 12 days before selling in June
• There was 18 days of inventory available last month. A roughly six-month supply is considered healthy
  
  
• The $340,442 median sales price represents a 17.2% increase from the previous June

See the full list of how 50 metropolitan areas rank:

This story was originally published July 22, 2021 at 6:00 AM.

Lauren Lindstrom

The Charlotte Observer

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Lauren Lindstrom is a reporter for the Charlotte Observer covering affordable housing. She previously covered health for The Blade in Toledo, Ohio, where she wrote about the state’s opioid crisis and childhood lead poisoning. Lauren is a Wisconsin native, a Northwestern University graduate and a 2019 Report for America corps member. Support my work with a digital subscription