Ep # 136 Decoding Charlotte's Hot Housing Market with Expert Mike Sposato

The pendulum of Charlotte's real estate market is swinging toward balance after years of seller dominance, according to local expert Mike Sposato of Carolina Realty Advisors. Drawing from fresh Canopy MLS data, Sposato reveals a remarkable 42% year-over-year increase in available properties across the Charlotte metropolitan area. For buyers who previously faced bidding wars and pressure to make immediate decisions, this shift creates breathing room to explore options and negotiate terms.

Charlotte's market transformation doesn't signal a downturn but rather a normalization, with the average time from listing to closing extending from one month to nearly three months. "That's still, in historical terms, great," Sposato explains, positioning the current environment between a seller's market (one month to sell) and a buyer's market (twelve months to sell). "Between four to eight months—that's a healthy market," he notes, suggesting Charlotte is progressing toward equilibrium while still favoring sellers overall.

Despite increased inventory and normalization, property values continue their upward trajectory with average sales prices climbing 5% year-over-year. The spring season brings traditional heightened activity, with lakefront properties on Lake Norman and Lake Wylie performing exceptionally well. Premium neighborhoods like Dilworth, Myers Park, Waxhaw, and Cornelius maintain their desirability, particularly among out-of-state buyers relocating from high-cost regions who find Charlotte offers remarkable value. With approximately 130 new residents arriving daily, Charlotte's housing market remains fundamentally strong even as it adapts to changing conditions.

Whatever your real estate goals, understanding these evolving market dynamics is essential. Connect with Mike Sposato and Carolina Realty Advisors at CarolinaRealtyAdvisorsGroup.com or by calling 704-619-7070 to navigate Charlotte's real estate landscape with confidence and insider knowledge.

Carolina Realty Advisors

Mike Sposato

 [phone]
[e-mail]

carolinarealtyadvisors.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Regina Lee.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of
the Good Neighbor Podcast, andtoday I'm welcoming back Mike
Sposato.
He is the owner broker forCarolina Realty Advisors here in
Charlotte.
Welcome, mike.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Absolutely.
I know you are a true realestate expert here in the
Charlotte metro area and I'dlove just to dive right in and
just ask you can you describethe current real estate market
in Charlotte for us?

Speaker 3 (00:41):
Sure.
So what I'm hoping that we cando together is start to do a
monthly program here where wecan help you know, the people
who are listening and watchingthe podcast understand what's
going on in the greaterCharlotte area statistically and
so how we do this.

(01:01):
Our local MLS or multiplelisting service, is known as the
Canopy MLS, and they've beenkeeping really detailed
statistical data for many, many,many, many years.
They look at things like howmany properties were listed, say

(01:22):
, april of 25 versus April of 24.
Were there any price increasesfrom 24 to 25?
What's the average time onmarket, how long has it taken
someone on average to sell theirhome, and a bunch of other data
points that are kind ofimportant.

(01:42):
And if you can read the tealeaves, you can get a greater
understanding of the overallreal estate market.
So, that being said, I'm notsure your viewers can see this
or not.
It's fine, they don't have tobe able to see it, but you can
see.
It says canopy up here and it'sjust one sheet of.
I've got 50 different pages infront of me, but what I'll tell

(02:11):
you, which is really what'shappening here, the biggest
thing that we're seeing is inApril of 25, we saw a 42%
increase in the amount ofproperties that were for sale as
compared to April of 24.
42%, that's huge.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
So there's a lot of inventory out there.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
It is Yep, and you know the kind of the story
behind that is.
If you are selling, you knowpeople that you've been on the
fence, I want to sell, I want tosell, I want to sell and you're
trying to time the market.
I'm not saying it's too late byany means, I'm just saying had
you made this decision a yearago or even two years ago, when

(02:58):
it was multiple bids, it wouldhave been a much different
situation.
But you know, for sellers, theygot to understand it's not that
the market's changed.
And so two years ago it was.
You put your house on themarket and I think it was 31
days until you closed and gotyour proceeds.
It's not that way anymore.

(03:18):
So, according to thisinformation, when you put your
house on the market now, it'sgoing to be almost three months
versus one month, which is still, in historical terms, great.
You know the even part of themarket.

(03:41):
The market is kind of like apendulum, right, and so when you
have, you know where it takesone month to sell your home,
that's a seller's market, andwhen it takes 12 months to sell
your home on that pendulum, it'sa buyer's market, and in the
middle that, somewhere betweenfour to eight months.
That's a healthy market.
So we're not even at fourmonths yet.

(04:03):
It's still, you know, threemonths from list to close.
But it's moving in thedirection of a healthy market
versus a seller's market.
And what that means in reallife is, if you're buying, you
no longer have to rush out thereon the first day and be ready
to go over, ask price and thatkind of thing.

(04:24):
In some cases, you mightBelieve me, there's still some
really hot neighborhoods, but onaverage you have time to look
around, do some competitive andcomparative shopping, figure out
what you like and then alsomake an offer where you can
negotiate again versus, you know, the seller, you know being
able to get over list price.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
What has caused this big shift since last year?

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Well, you know, it's a lot of things.
Some people go to the mostobvious, which is interest rates
.
You know, interest rates havegone up and down a little bit
here and there.
I'm not even exactly sure whatthey are today.
They're probably six and threequarters or something like that,
which, again, historically, isfine, you know.

(05:10):
But beyond the interest rates,I think you know the economy was
so bad in 2024 that a lot ofpeople lost confidence, so to
speak, that we have new thingsgoing on.
People are waiting to see amarket change in the economy

(05:31):
where it's notable, likeinterest rate drop, price of
groceries go down, just generalthings that we could see, where
it's like, you know, telltalesigns that things are a lot
better now, you know.
So people are kind of like await and see approach still.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
So that's kind of what's happening well, in spring
, I would think, is historicallythe hottest time of year to buy
and sell.
Is that true?

Speaker 3 (05:54):
it is true, um and largely because you know there's
always going to be a sector ofthe market that's going to be
not impacted by schools.
You know timing around schools.
But now that we're in thespring and schools are getting
ready to end here the nextcouple of weeks, a lot of
families are entering into themarket, as well as other types

(06:17):
of you know clientele.
So this is where you usuallysee the big spring market and
we're seeing it.
I mean there's, there's plentyout there for buyers to look at
and for sellers whenever they'relisting.
Right now this is not a time togo.
Well, I know your comps say myhouse was worth 490.
I want to try for 550 becauseif you do that, you're going to

(06:38):
be on the market for a while.
Then you're going to startdropping, drop and drop and then
trail on the market and it'sgoing to be bad.
So this is a time of year where, if you're selling, you need to
have a competitive sales priceand a good, experienced agent
who knows how to market andrepresent you and get you the
most money.
Because it's no longer the dayof, I'll just throw it out there

(06:59):
and see what happens right.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
Do you find in working with your clients that
when you're getting ready tolist that, it's hard to convince
them of that?

Speaker 3 (07:10):
it's probably the hardest part of my job.
Yeah, because people have a,you know, pride of ownership job
.
Yeah, because people have a,you know pride of ownership and
you know they believe because,oh, when I built my house, I put
in this coaxial here and I didthis and that and blah, blah,
blah.
But the truth is nobody cares.
What they care about are goingto be things like the kitchens,

(07:33):
you know, upgrades, bathrooms alot, the neighborhood school,
you know so people bathrooms thelot, the neighborhood school,
you know so.
People kind of get defensiveabout things that don't really
have real monetary value, and sowhat happens is is they don't
want to try to be reasonable andsometimes, as a realtor, we
have to walk away from thosekinds of people, because you

(07:54):
spend a lot of money and timeand effort to help market their
property and if they're notgoing to be realistic, it's
unfortunately a lot of money andtime and effort to help market
their property, and if they'renot going to be realistic, it's
unfortunately a waste of time.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, do you see a lot of people from outside of
Charlotte coming to Charlotte.
Like, who do you deal with most?
There are people just movingaround here within the city
mostly.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
Several of my last closings and clients have been
people moving here from out ofstate.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yeah, I do a lot of.
I mean my personal business ispretty.
It's a big geographic area.
I work from below Rock Hill toabove Statesville, over almost
all the way to Asheville andthen past Monroe, so it's a big
area.
But I do a lot on, likewaterfront properties and
lakefront properties and severalof my last clients have been

(08:42):
buying, you know, property righton Lake Norman or Lake Wiley
townhomes, condos, big singlefamily homes and I think that
market is still really nice.
It's a good market to be in.
But your standard moving withinCharlotte from one suburban
neighborhood to another, that'sit's.

(09:04):
It's a little bit slower.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yeah Well, post-covid , you know people are always
measuring their business againstthose unbelievable years.
If they were one of thebusinesses who just went nuts
and it's unrealistic to think,you know we can do some of those
numbers again.
But do you think home valueswill ever go up like they were a
year, two years ago?

Speaker 3 (09:29):
Well, I mean, those are a lot of.
That was multiple bids and thatwas people that were desperate
and willing to do things.
People that were desperate andwilling to do things.
And right now, today, we're notgoing to be in a multiple bid
situation unless it's again avery unique situation on one of
the lakes or in a reallysought-after neighborhood within

(09:51):
Charlotte or Waxhaw, weddington, whatever You'll see the
occasional multiple bids still,still, but they're rare and
they're becoming more and morerare.
So, um, prices are going up.
Um, you know the stats aresaying it.
Um, you know, let me see, justlooking here, the average sales

(10:12):
price went up five percent umyear over year.
So I mean, they're still goingup.
Um, and I don't foresee pricesgoing down.
Only time I see that is if aseller comes out and just well,
let's try it for 30 days at youknow, 10 over what it's supposed
to sell for, and see whathappens.
And then, when no one looks atit and they see what happens,

(10:33):
then they drop their price.
But, um, you know, aside fromthat, you know prices are, you
know they're still continuing togo up at a nice and normal
increase.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
Which sub markets seem to be doing the best?

Speaker 3 (10:49):
Again, the lakes are good, especially this time of
year.
You know both lakes, even LakeHickory, which I do work out
there.
Um, of course, in townneighborhoods are good, like
dillworth, myers park um, youknow, probably you're gonna see
some some really robust salesand like wax on weddington,

(11:12):
cornelius.
So some of the more expensiveneighborhoods are doing really
well because some people comingfrom out of state are in a
little bit of a better position.
They might be cash buyers andthey want to be in some of the
better neighborhoods like that.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yeah, it's amazing, when people move down from New
York and some of those places,what they can get for their
money here.
Yeah, we offer a lot.
Yeah, and the word is out.
Do you happen to know how manypeople move into Charlotte daily
?

Speaker 3 (11:40):
I don't know the exact number anymore.
I know that it was a little bitover a hundred a day.
That was probably this pastfall like 130, some a day, which
is crazy.
It's a lot.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
Well, I look forward to chatting with you again.
This is a lot of fun for you toyou know as a true expert
residential commercial.
Keep us up to date, whetherwe're a buyer or seller in the
area.
So, mike, thank you very muchfor joining us.
Lastly, tell our listeners howto find you.

Speaker 3 (12:14):
Well, there's a couple of different ways you can
Google me.
My name's Mike SposatoS-P-O-S-A-T-O.
A lot of things going on allover the Internet, but our real
estate company is CarolinaRealty Advisors and our Web site
is Carolina Realty AdvisorsGroup dot com, where you can

(12:35):
always call or text me at704-619-7070.

Speaker 2 (12:41):
Mike, thank you again .
I look forward to speaking withyou next month.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
You got it.
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
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the show, go toGNPSouthCharlotte.
com.
That's GNPSouthCharlotte.
com.
That's GNPSouthCharlotte.
com, or call 980-351-5719.