‘More stable’: Home values in Charlotte see decline

CHARLOTTE — More than half of homes in Charlotte, and nationwide, lost value in the past year.

That’s according to Zillow, which found that 56.8% of homes in the Charlotte area lost value since last year, which is higher than the national average of 53%. Real estate agents say part of that is because there are now more homes for sale, but there are other factors at play.

Just a few years after the pandemic-era buying craze that sent home prices skyrocketing, we’re now seeing more supply. There were over 12,000 homes on the market in October in Charlotte, which is a 25% increase.

But the loss in value over the last year is mostly on paper. Less than 2% of the homes in Charlotte are priced below where they last sold.

“It doesn’t mean that the sky is falling here in Charlotte, it just means we’re starting to see coming back to some normal pricing, normal market conditions,” said Brock Zevan, a real estate coach, agent, and podcaster based in Huntersville.

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Zevan says houses are taking longer to sell now, but he says that’s not a bad thing.

“A really stabilized market is that 40 to 60 days you typically want to see. The problem is sellers are used to seeing home sales go [quickly],” Zevan said. “Like ‘Ahhh, how come my home didn’t sell?!’ ‘Well, because it’s been 2 days.’”

Zillow’s data shows that homes are staying on the market at an average of 54 days, up 29% over last year at this time.

Zeban says that’s normal, it’s just not what’s been happening in recent years.

“It actually was terrible. It was hard. Because when you had 50 showings and 30 offers, you can only make one person happy and 29 people are upset with you, and they couldn’t find their home,” he said. “We’re just becoming more stable, it’s a more healthy market.”

Zevan says one of the biggest obstacles he sees when clients aren’t able to afford a home is their debt-to-income ratio.

If you’re in the market to buy a home, real estate agents tell me it’s a bit of a buyer’s market right now, if you can afford it.

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