Number of Home Listings are Still at Record Lows

As a local resident of Waxhaw I’ve watched our small town grow tremendously over these last 3 years. Whether you like it or not, our town has become a hot spot for growth in the South Charlotte Region. According to the US Census, Waxhaw’s population has grown 108.5% from 9,915 in 2010 to 20,534 in 2020. We’ve also been recently voted as one of the top 10 towns in all of NC for growth and desirability.

If you feel like the population of our town has grown more than that, you’re right. Reports indicate that the population of Waxhaw increases 5% annually, but the reality is it’s closer to 10% based on census and housing data. Also, the census occurred in early 2020 at the beginning of the COVID Pandemic prior to the relocation boom caused by the work from home movement. Realistically, our population has grown by an additional 4,000 – 6,000 residents since the finalization of the 2020 census. 

We’re feeling the effects of this record setting growth in every imaginable way, but it’s most noticeable in our town’s housing market. Like many small towns throughout the country our growth has put a strain on housing market due to a lack of inventory and increasing home prices. Homes have seen record setting equity growth by more than 20% per year in our town, and it’s barely slowing down as we enter in the second quarter of 2022. 

I ran a listing calculation in December of 2021 showing that the entire town of Waxhaw was at a record low for number of listings at 177. In January of 2022 we picked up to 196 and by March 2022 we had increased slightly to 211. In the graph below you can see the number of listings month to month for the last 5 years and you can see how our listing numbers have decreased year after year. 2022 is proving to be no different. 

If you review the trends you can see that historically the number of listings increase in January compared to November and December of the year prior. Listings typically peak between March and June and then begin decreasing through the remainder of the year. What’s important to note is year after year the number of listings has continued to decrease as our population has continued to grow and our town has become increasingly desirable. We started off 2022 with the lowest number of listings we have ever seen for the month of January and we saw the same for the entire first quarter. 

The second quarter of 2022 is going to be interesting for our real estate market as interest rates continue to rise. Historically, as interest rates increase the housing market slows and we’ve seen some slowing down in the last 30-45 days. However, we’re still at record low housing inventory and we can’t level out our supply and demand curve until this improves.

The demand of our town has told us that we need listings, desperately. Since builders are struggling to produce more housing buyers are turning to resale more than ever. Homeowners will continue to see strong equity growth over the next year until we can begin to increase our inventory numbers and level out our market. It’s very likely that this process could take more than a year, if not even longer. 

If you’re considering buying or a selling a home in the Waxhaw area and would like to learn more about the process, please don’t hesitate to call me at Briggs American Homes at (980) 250-2795. I would love to help you and your family with all of your real estate needs! 

Check out my latest client testimonial! “We were very fortunate to have Matt as our Broker. Trying to purchase a home in the current market environment was, at best, difficult and being from out of state only added to the difficulty. It really helped to have a professional, such as Matt to guide you. He provided almost daily updates of available houses with commentary and thoughts on the areas and neighborhood. His knowledge of the area was encyclopedic. We bought a newly constructed house and the best thing we ever did was hire Matt to oversee the process. His attention to detail and construction background was invaluable in keeping the builders on task to provide a quality home. He visited the house on a weekly basis to assess the construction and provide guidance to the builders and process. We were constantly updated on the progress and the items that need attention. He joined us on the initial walk through and final evaluation prior to closing. The closing was seemless and we ended up with a beautiful and well constructed house. Matt, we can't thank you enough, you are the BEST!!!” – M. Niemiec

Matt Lawson, MBA is the Owner and Broker in Charge of Briggs American Homes, a real estate team at Keller Williams Ballantyne area. Matt lives and operates his business right here in Waxhaw, NC and is passionate about all things Real Estate.