More Room to Breathe

If you've been watching the Charlotte market this summer, you've probably noticed it feels a little different than it did a year or two ago. More homes to choose from, a little more time to make a decision, and prices that are still climbing, just not at the pace we got used to. Here's what the numbers from Canopy MLS actually show for July.

The Headline Numbers

Closed sales in the Charlotte region came in at 4,142 for July, up 1.6% from last year. New listings rose to 5,532, up 1.1%, and pending sales climbed 2.1% to 3,963. Year to date, closed sales are actually down slightly, 0.6% behind last year's pace, even though both new listings and pending sales are running ahead of 2025. In plain terms, more homes are hitting the market and more buyers are writing offers, but the number of deals actually making it to the closing table hasn't quite kept up yet.

Prices Are Still Rising, Just More Selectively

This is where it gets interesting. Average sales price jumped 7.0% year over year to $545,079, and average list price climbed 8.3% to $546,191. But median sales price, which is often the better read on what a "typical" home is actually selling for, only rose 1.1% to $410,000.

That gap matters. When average prices rise faster than the median, it usually means more activity at the higher end of the market is pulling the average up, while the middle of the market is holding fairly steady. If you're selling a home in a more typical price range, don't expect the double digit price jumps some reports (and some clients) still say they're expecting.

Buyers Are Getting a Little More Runway

Homes are taking longer to sell. Days on market until sale rose to 47 days, up 6.8% from last year, and cumulative days on market rose to 54, up 10.2%. List to close, the full span from listing a home to closing on it, stretched to 94 days, up 8.0%.

Inventory grew too, up 6.9% year over year to 13,589 homes for sale, and months supply of homes ticked up to 3.7, from 3.5 last July. That's still technically a seller's market (anything under 6 months of supply usually is), but it's a market that's loosening at the edges rather than tightening.

Sellers are still getting nearly full price for their homes, though. Percent of original list price received held essentially flat at 96.0%, so pricing a home right from the start still matters more than ever, homes that are priced accurately are still selling close to asking, they just might take a bit longer to get there.

What This Means If You're Selling

Pricing correctly at listing is the single biggest lever you have right now. With more competition on the market and buyers taking their time, an overpriced listing sits, accumulates days on market, and often ends up chasing the market down instead of leading it. A well priced home is still getting close to full ask.

What This Means If You're Buying

You have more to choose from and a bit more breathing room than buyers had a year ago. The Housing Affordability Index dipped slightly to 88 from 89, so affordability isn't dramatically better, but the added inventory and slightly longer timelines mean less pressure to make a rushed decision on the first thing you see.

The National Backdrop

Zooming out, existing home sales nationally dipped 2.4% from June but are still up 2.8% from a year ago. The national median existing home price hit a record $440,600, up 1.8% year over year, marking 36 straight months of annual price gains. Nationally, homes are sitting a median of 28 days on the market, and first time buyers made up 33% of purchases. Charlotte is tracking with the broader national story: more inventory, more time, and prices still climbing, just more gradually than the last few years.

If you're trying to figure out what any of this means for your specific situation, whether that's timing a sale, understanding what your home is worth today, or figuring out how much house makes sense in this market, I'm always happy to talk through the numbers together.