3.06% Of Charlotte Metro Homes Sold for $1 Million +
One of the dominant economic stories, since the COVID-19 pandemic began, has been the fiercely competitive housing market. The median sales price of a home in the U.S. topped $400,000 for the first time in 2021 amid aggressive buyer offers and bidding wars in markets all across the country.
The current challenges of the housing market have come from a potent combination of supply- and demand-side factors. The U.S. has underbuilt housing supply for years, with mortgage lender Freddie Mac estimating a shortage of 3.8 million housing units as of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought additional struggles, as supply chain constraints and labor shortages have raised costs and made it difficult for builders to keep up. On the demand side, the Millennial generation are in a peak period for buying homes, and a years-long run of low mortgage interest rates has attracted many buyers into the market. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic brought wage increases for many professions and greater shifts to remote work that raised demand for larger homes.
The result has been a hypercompetitive housing market that has produced a dramatic spike in home prices since the beginning of 2020. Before the pandemic began, the median sales price of a U.S. home was $329,000. By the third quarter of 2021, the median sales price soared to a peak of $411,200, before declining slightly to $408,100 in the last few months of 2021. With more than half of homes now selling for above $400,000, fewer options are available for lower-income or first-time buyers, and current homeowners looking to upgrade to larger or nicer homes are having to pay a higher price to do so.
The analysis found that in the Charlotte metro area, home sales over $1 million accounted for 3.06% of all home purchases in 2020. Here is a summary of the data for the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metro area:
- Percentage of luxury home sales ($1M+): 3.06%
- Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,295,000
- Median income for $1M+ buyers: $355,000
- Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $350,000
For reference, here are the statistics for the entire United States:
- Percentage of luxury home sales ($1M+): 4.76%
- Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,355,000
- Median income for $1M+ buyers: $330,000
- Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $410,000
Source Inspection Support Network
15. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
- Percentage of luxury home sales ($1M+): 3.11%
- Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,345,000
- Median income for $1M+ buyers: $350,000
- Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $410,000
10. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO
- Percentage of luxury home sales ($1M+): 4.98%
- Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,285,000
- Median income for $1M+ buyers: $300,000
- Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $420,000
5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
- Percentage of luxury home sales ($1M+): 14.70%
- Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,305,000
- Median income for $1M+ buyers: $272,000
- Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $390,000
4. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
- Percentage of luxury home sales ($1M+): 19.40%
- Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,375,000
- Median income for $1M+ buyers: $290,500
- Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $430,000
3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Percentage of luxury home sales ($1M+): 27.51%
- Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,405,000
- Median income for $1M+ buyers: $300,000
- Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $430,000
2. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA
- Percentage of luxury home sales ($1M+): 49.36%
- Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,425,000
- Median income for $1M+ buyers: $290,000
- Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $400,000
1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
- Percentage of luxury home sales ($1M+): 61.12%
- Median property value for $1M+ homes: $1,455,000
- Median income for $1M+ buyers: $289,000
- Median down payment for $1M+ homes: $400,000
