The national news, for some, may distort what is happening at a local level.  North Carolina is one of a special group of states noted in an expansion mode. This was recently reported in USA Today.  Investors and buyers of homes for personal occupancy, waiting for an abundance of foreclosure deals, may be losing long term on potentially gaining equity on the selection of quality properties currently in the market.  Rampant foreclosures have simply not been the case in our area.  The Charlotte metro saw appreciation last year.  Yes, we did see some first time home buyer neighborhoods get hit by foreclosures, due in part to some unethical mortgage lending practices. However, the growth of the Charlotte market continues to be a healthy one.  And while our job growth rate has slowed a bit, it is still positive and demonstrates the vitality of our economy.  

Keep in mind, the large majority of last year's sales decline was seen among the  under $250,000 price point.  The subprime crisis explained most of that, as many of these buyers were taken out of the market once lenders tightened up credit policies. But recently, we have observed continued government oversight and to some degree intervention to encourage lenders once again to be consumer friendly.  As for other segments in the Charlotte metro, the rest of the market's sales last year remained (for the most part) flat. 

We have been fortunate and to a certain degree accustomed to seeing in Charlotte double digit growth for the past three years prior, so the sales decline last year (regardless of segment)caught everyone's attention. However, does it suggest that our neighobrhoods are now in danger, I would think not.  Historical data would suggest that after Charlotte achieved a slow down in its sales and prices remained flat about four years ago, sale prices went up significantly sohrtly afterwards.     

Have questions on our current real estate market? Would love to hear them.