What are Buyers paying for Houses?

I wish I had a dollar for every person that said something to me in the last 2 years to the effect of, “I’ll wait until the home prices come down”! I would always just roll my eyes and redirect, behind their back, of course. I knew then that there was no way housing prices would come down. To me, if housing prices go down, we’re in a recession because 08/09 is the only time that has happened and no one wants to do that again!

So I thought we should take a look at what Buyers are really paying for real estate in 2025. Here are some statistics:

The Charlotte area MLS, known as Canopy, recently released their annual report for 2024. This shows the percentage increase for the entire Charlotte area and then begins to break it down by counties. The average increase is usually around 4% – 6%. The cause of the huge increases in 21/22 were the extremely low inventory and high demand, in part created by the extremely low interest rates. Once the interest rates rose in 23/24 the growth slowed, but prices never went down. Why?

The short answer is “Charlotte”. This area is one of the fastest growing, most desirable cities in the nation. It may be the climate, the job market, or the economic opportunity, but whatever it is nothing in Charlotte is ever a bad investment. I tried to make this point a few years ago. If your interest rate is 7%, but the value of the home increases 4 -6% on average every year, you are still making money on your investment, not to mention the tax right off, home equity opportunities, personal happiness, and growth potential.

But the growth around Charlotte is not the same everywhere. Kannapolis, a town in Cabarrus county, has actually dropped in price, even with all the workthat town has down to revitalize the douwtown area. Also, the growth around Lake Norman and Huntersville were significantly smaller than other areas, potentially because those prices were already so high., but Cornelius saw double digit growth.

But I think the most important fact to consider in the chart above is the Median price for the area. In all of the training and learning that I have done for finance and budgeting, it boils down to two things, the money coming in and the money going out. If you can’t adjust one, then maybe you have to adjust the other. For example, if you can’t afford $417,893 for the median price in Charlotte, maybe you should consider an outside city like Concord at $389,185 or Gastonia at $295,000. These numbers can give a good idea of cost of living for those areas.

The hard truth is that the cost of living in the Charlotte area is high, but it is not as high as so many other places, like CA or Atlanta. The motivation to buy a home shouldn’t be price. A mortgage is just a fact of life. For every person that tells you success means living without debt, there are 2 more that will tell you that debt, especially mortgage debt, actually works in your favor because it creates wealth and net worth. The motivation to buy a house or vacation house or whatever should be just as long term and ambitious. It should be to accomplish a goal, to propel your financial net worth further, to create passive income, or to house the people you love. Charlotte is not a bad investment, no matter where or when.