Q1 Market Report
April 2023
Lake Norman Luxury Market Continues Solid Activity Levels
Cornelius
Davidson
Mooresville
West Shore
North Shore
Concord & Kannapolis
Lake Norman and North Charlotte's luxury markets continue to produce solid results for sellers
The Lake Norman luxury market continued to buck national trends moving into the spring While national media outlets continue to report lower prices and a slowing of the luxury market in large markets nationally, North Carolina has mostly shown minor declines from the frothiness of the past two years, with some areas and segments continuing to show actual upward pricing pressure.
In the Lake Norman area, while the mid-market range has shown declines in sell-through, the continued low inventory levels have limited pricing declines. The million-dollar range has shown high demand, with Davidson, Mooresville, Denver, and Cornelius all showing increased sell-through compared to last year ' s first quarter. While the ultra-luxury range above $2 million has seen some increase in inventory, particularly with older homes, prices are still well above pre-covid levels.
Showing activity remains well above pre-covid levels, albeit slightly off from peak levels last year.
Cornelius has seen steady selling activity with pending contracts continuing to outpace available inventory. Despite seeing ultra-luxury inventory over $2 million in list price rise in the past six months, the inventory (17) to pending contract ratio (9) remains very healthy, moving into the high spring selling season As a result, the million-dollar range remains extremely tight regarding inventory levels What price reductions are being seen across all levels are coming off historically high listing prices and thus really don't reflect price reductions of closed comparable sales but more reductions in still high prices.
The Davidson market continued to show high activity in all three ranges, with sold results mirroring last year ' s first quarter and pending contracts, particularly in the range over $1 million, spiking to a historic high of 23 homes under contract. The area has also begun to consistently see closings over $2 million in price, with two closings and four under contract ultra-luxury properties. .
Mooresville's mid-market segment remained strong with tight inventories, with 79 homes pending on active remaining inventory of 60 homes in the range of just under $1 million Like Cornelius, the range above $1 million in list outsold last year ' s first quarter (23 homes to 22), while the ultra-luxury range over $2 million saw a decline in sell-through from 10 homes to 6, yet showed a healthy 12 homes over that threshold pending to close. Active inventory in all three segments was roughly 30 days' supply.
Like its east side of Lake Norman neighbors, the west shore Denver area closed very similar numbers to last year ' s first quarter Pending contracts have also, for the most part, outpaced inventory leaving supply at roughly 30-day absorption rates with the busy spring selling season kicking in.
While the North Shore area above the Highway 150 bridge did see some slowdown in the first quarter, both below and above $1 million in price, both segments rebounded as the quarter came to a close with 40 homes under contract in the mid-market range, and 11 homes pending above $1 million in price, the area also boasts several active homes above $3 million in list price
Cabarrus County continued to attract upper mid-market activity in high volume, with 96 homes closing in the first quarter, albeit down from 145 in last year ' s first quarter. Still, with another 109 pending contracts in that range, the area continues to evolve, with average price points moving upward closer to the million-dollar range. The upper end of the market in Cabarrus shows five homes pending over $1 million, with 14 active homes, and slightly more inventory to choose from moving into the second quarter.
Showing Activity: Lake Norman and North Charlotte's luxury markets continue to produce solid results for sellers, with low inventory and high demand continuing to stabilize prices. The range around $1 million is seeing the average home get close to 9 showings per month, on par with last year ' s spring activity, while the upper ranges have varied In the 2-3 million dollar segment, the average house is getting 5 8 showings per month right now, down slightly from 7 1 last year during the same time, but still healthy activity Interestingly, the range above $3 million exceeded last year ' s showing activity for the early spring, as Lake Norman continues to attract a steady stream of high net worth buyers.
The area will see more balanced activity, yet price decreases should not necessarily be seen as price declines in absolute sold prices. When a home is priced at $1000.00 per square foot and decreases to over $900.00 per foot then sells at a still record price for that neighborhood, that's still a sign that prices remain healthy.
Finally, from a macro-study, a recent research study projected that some 20 million people will move to the sun belt states between 2020 and 2030 North Carolina ranked third in inbound migration last year to only Texas and Florida Given that forecast, the area continues to remain attractive from a relative pricing standpoint to its more pricey southern neighbors.
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