Charlotte Real Estate | Understanding the City, Understanding the Real Estate Market

If you're considering purchasing property in Charlotte, the time might be the best it has been in more than a decade. House prices are falling and the foreclosure rate means that interested buyers are seeing homes selling for prices heretofore unseen. But before you decide to buy in Charlotte, there are some things about the city and the city's real estate marketing that you should take into consideration. Here's some background about Charlotte and the people that do business in this southern metropolis.

Although Charlotte dates from Revolutionary War times (it is named for King George III's wife, Queen Charlotte), its Uptown is distinctively New South, with gleaming skyscrapers. Uptown encompasses all of downtown Charlotte, its business and cultural heart and soul. It's also home to the government center and some residential neighborhoods. And public art is keeping pace with the city's growing skyline. Examples of this are the sculptures at the four corners of Trade and Tryon streets. Erected at Independence Square, they symbolize Charlotte's beginnings: a gold miner (commerce), a mill worker (the city's textile heritage), an African-American railroad builder (transportation), and a mother holding her baby aloft (the future).

Buyers watch Charlotte homes go down in price and the inventory they have to bid on go up, but they feel more comfortable waiting to see if prices will go down further... either from fear of making a mistake or the hope that they can "time the market."

Sellers, again, are watching the same price and inventory dynamics and are also waiting to list their Charlotte homes for sale... waiting for average sales prices to rebound or for the inventory in their own neighborhoods to come down. Many sellers are also on the sidelines after trying and failing to attract offers and showing traffic in the last twelve months.

So when will this frustrated group of Charlotte real estate participants get their day in the sun? The good news that I have to report from my business is that it looks like that time is now and we see signs of life heading into the spring selling season of 2009.

It is hard to tell. But Charlotte has many things going for it.

The United Way has a long history in the Charlotte area. The United Way currently operates three programs with the Charlotte Schools: Right Moves for You, A Child's Place and Communities in Schools. Charlotte Schools launched its United Way fundraising campaign on September 21. A rally was held where the Charlotte Schools' Superintendent Peter Gorman and United Way 2006 regional campaign chair Michael Baker spoke. Preschoolers from the Charlotte Schools also joined the rally in order to say thank you to the donors who help meet the year's goal of $44 million. This partnership not only raises funds for the students and children in the Charlotte area but allows students to interact with adults who offer positive influences.