A new year has begun. Our New Year’s resolution at 5 Points Realty is to cut through the ocean of real estate chatter and provide very real, cutting edge, from the trenches information to our existing and future clients. The real information, warts and all. If you are reading this right now and have an interest in real estate in Charlotte, NC, you will want to keep reading because we are about to give you the truth about what it really costs to live in Charlotte.
The ‘it’ factor
Charlotte’s got the it factor. People love it here and it shows. The region is growing at a pace of about 2.63% year-over-year. According to the U.S Census Bureau, the population has increased by 19.6% over the past ten years.
This growth pace is almost double the growth rate of the rest of the State. Charlotte offers a perfect storm of reasons for people to move here. These factors aren’t news; this has been a trend for at least a decade. However, expectations of Charlotte’s housing prices have not adjusted over the last decade.
Housing Reality
Let us provide a real example. Cassee Cunningham is known for courting people moving from out of state or town to Charlotte. Check out her blog www.shortwalkhome.com. The main attraction to Cassee and 5 Points Realty, is our deep connection with historic, urban, walkable neighborhoods in Charlotte Center city. Cassee’s clients are moving from Santa Cruz, California, to Charlotte to be near their daughter and grandchildren. Their plan; To buy a lot or tear down an existing home and build something custom to their lives. Their design aesthetic is contemporary and modern. Their designer/builder of choice is Toby Witte of https://www.witteha.us/. His style fits theirs as you can see by one of his builds.
Their other top-tier criteria is walkabiliity. They want to be within a few blocks of an independent coffee shop. They also prefer the South East side of uptown Charlotte. The target neighborhoods for them are Chantilly, Elizabeth, Plaza Midwood, and Commonwealth Park.
This California couple is selling a house in Santa Cruz, California, they own without a mortgage. After taxes they will net over 2.5 million on the sale. They hope they don’t have to spend all of their profit towards their acquisition and build here in Charlotte. Their budget for a teardown or lot in the aforementioned neighborhoods started at $400k. That budget proved to be too low so they increased it to $600k. Below are the median sales prices for each of the target neighborhoods for this client, data provided by our CMLS, Statistical Analysis Module.
Median Home prices with an example of a typical home.
Elizabeth – $720,000
Plaza Midwood – $691,000
Commonwealth Park – $425,000
Chantily – $638,000
Although our Santa Cruz clients have a very healthy budget and will absolutely be able to find what they are looking for and build exactly what they want, they have suffered from sticker and lack of inventory shock. Knowing what things really cost in the areas that matter to our clients is essential to planning a move.
Is Charlotte a good investment?
Charlotte remains a fantastic place to invest. Housing remains relatively affordable. The rental market is attractive and the jobs report is strong. Lucky for you, we have lots of real estate opportunities to share with our interested clients.
So cheers to a fabulous and prosperous new Year. We promise to fulfill our New Year’s resolution to keep bringing you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth when it comes to all things real estate in Charlotte.