Charlotte Home Prices Down 0.7% in October Reports Case- Shiller
Standard and Poor’s Case-Shiller October 2009 20 City Home Price Index reported Charlotte home prices down 0.7% in October from September sales. The overall report of the 20 cities C-S follows was called “flat” by David Blitzer, S and P’s Chairman of the Index Committee.
Charlotte experienced slight increases through the spring and fall, so this represents a slight give back, but still, at 7% off last year, places Charlotte home prices well above the spring, and firmly in the top half of the 20 cities C-S follows. All 20 cities advanced on an annual basis- better in the fall then spring.
Carolina MLS, Multiple Listing Service, 9 County Charlotte area, for October and November
1814 single family home sold in Charlotte in October, at an average price of $208,955, and an average cost per 
sf of $96.38/sf. This compares with September’s 1578 homes at an average price of $207,300, and an average cost per square foot of $94.35 per sf. Hmmmmm… I’ll explain below.
So, the MLS reports an increase in cost per square foot of 2.15% from September to October, and nearly 15% increase in volume and a .79% decrease in average home price sold- both of these are measures of the actual units sold, which may or may not be an accurate measure of the market. As we see the difference to the C-S, in this case MLS does not represent the market. In fact it represents only the mix of homes sold in the period.
Altos Research counts only Charlotte zip codes, and relies on tax data of units sold, and therefore represents the mix of houses sold as well. It is a bit more complete including all homes sold, but is just for city of Charlotte zip codes. It shows a bit worse- cost per square foot is off 2% from September 1 to October 30, worsening in November, as median prices fall from $220,000 to $205,000 by October 30.
The difference between Case-Shiller and the MLS and Altos can only be attributed to C-S methodology which measures pairs of houses sold, as opposed to all homes sold, for a more precise comparison. It is the only measure that doesn’t just take the houses sold data which may or may not be representative of the market whole, but looks for exact matches of houses, taking a consumer preference say for smaller homes out of the statistical mix.
The difference between Altos and The MLS? The only explanation I can see is that they measures different areas- the MLS includes the 9 county area, Altos does not, and Altos would measure all sales, not just those listed in the MLS. I’m Not a statistician by trade so if any of you see an error in my thinking, I’d love to hear it.
Standard and Poor’s Case-Shiller has become the industry standard for accuracy, and has been measuring housing data since 2000.
For some perspective, the C-S “winners”, highest price falls of one month were Tampa 1.6%, Atlanta off 1%. For the year over year, Charlotte is 7% off, Tampa, FL is off 15%, Miami off 14%, Phoenix off 18% and Las Vegas off 25%. Ouch. See how all the cities did at S/ P’s Case-Shiller.
I like to watch all measures because they all give me some insight as to what’s going on in our market right now. It helps in my negotiations- better information gives my buyers a stronger hand. All in all, prices are relatively stable in Charlotte NC, reflecting a seasonal drop as much as anything, with bargains available to the savvy buyer. (with a quality Buyer Agent 
) Terry can be reached at 704 351 1519
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