Real estate has been hot in recent years – and Charlotte, North Carolina, where American IRA, LLC maintains one of our two offices – is no exception. Recent sales figures are in, and Carolina Multiple Listing Service data for May of 2018 is showing an average sales price of a home in the general Charlotte region was $299,690. That is a jump of 11 percent over May of 2017.  This has been great for Self-Directed Real Estate IRA Investors.

Want a Self-Directed Real Estate IRA property within the city limits? Be prepared to pay even more: The average price of a Charlotte home was $332,700 in May, up a solid 13 percent over the preceding twelve months. The median sales price was up 9.5 percent over the same period.

Why the gap between the median and mean sales prices? Part of it is due to the rapid growth of incomes and wealth levels of Charlotte’s most affluent suburb: Davidson. This town of 12,700 residents has recently been named the wealthiest town in North Carolina, according to the most recent Census Bureau numbers.  The median annual income in Davidson, $109,907, is more than double the North Carolina median income of $48,256. And more than a quarter of households in Davidson earn $200,000 or more, compared to just 3.9 percent in the rest of the state.

Meanwhile, the number of homes available for sale in and around Charlotte is starting to fall. Inventory is down 20 percent between May 2017 and May of 2018, according to MLS data and reporting by the Charlotte Observer. The biggest demand for real estate in the Charlotte area seems to be towards the lower end of the price range, say local real estate observers. Self-Directed Real Estate IRA investors need to act fast.

The combination of increasing prices and tightening inventory appears to have taken some of the steam out of the Charlotte regional real estate market.  Despite the low inventory, it is still a great time for Self-Directed Real Estate IRA investors.  The number of homes sold has increased over the past year nationwide, but the number of units sold in Charlotte last May has fallen by 20 percent compared to a year ago.  However, lower inventories may well help support prices going forward, as buyers must compete for fewer and fewer units actually up for sale.

The lower total inventory does not mean buyers are not snapping up homes quickly. Indeed, Self-Directed Real Estate IRA investors may find this a good time to sell: The average time from list to close has fallen from 97 to 87 days in the past year.

Interested in learning more about Self-Directed IRAs?  Contact American IRA, LLC at 866-7500-IRA (472) for a free consultation.  Download our free guides or visit us online at www.AmericanIRA.com.