So sayeth the latest Case-Schiller index for October. Moreover:
While the composite housing prices are still above their spring 2009 lows, six markets – Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Portland (OR), Seattle and Tampa – hit their lowest levels since home prices started to fall in 2006 and 2007, meaning that average home prices in those markets have fallen beyond the recent
lows seen in most other markets in the spring of 2009.
Charlotte’s composite index of 114.06 (January 2000 is the benchmark at 100) now greatly lags both the 10-city composite (159.3) and the 20-city composite (145.3). In short, there is a housing bust in Charlotte, especially when compared with many other markets across the country which have recovered better and are no longer experiencing big price drops. And the drops may be accelerating.
For the past two months Charlotte has shed value at a 12 percent annual clip — a percent a month. There is nothing surprising or magical about this trend, not with the region struggling to recover the tens of thousands of jobs lost in the recession.
