Housing is still unaffordable in Charlotte, despite a supply gain
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Don't expect homes in Charlotte to become more affordable.
Why it matters: Affordable housing remains limited in Charlotte despite a rise in overall housing supply, UNC Charlotte's new State of Housing in Charlotte 2025 report shows.
How it works: The report was published by the Childress Klein Center for Real Estate in UNC Charlotte's Belk College of Business.
- It focuses on housing across eight counties in the Charlotte area: Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln and Union counties in North Carolina, and Lancaster and York in South Carolina.
- The report examines owner-occupied, rental and subsidized housing.
Context: In 2024, the Charlotte metro added 28,951 housing units. This surpassed the 24,837 households the area gained over that period, creating a surplus of roughly 4,114 units.
- "We just saw a lot of construction over the last several years," Yongqiang Chu, lead researcher and author of the report, tells Axios. "That's good news."
Yes, but: Chu expects construction delivery to significantly slow down over the next two to three years as developers remain cautious to move forward with new projects.
Zoom in: Entry-level homes used to mean anything under $150,000, Chu says, but only 1.8% of homes have been sold under that mark year-to-date. This makes it increasingly difficult for recent college graduates or young professionals to become homeowners.
By the numbers: To afford a Charlotte-area home in the 10th percentile price in 2005, you needed a household income of $32,244. In 2020, that number jumped to $50,617. Today it's $91,025.
- To afford the median-priced home in 2005, you needed an income of $55,110, which rose to $79,014 in 2020. Today it's $146,280.
- The median home price in Charlotte has seen a 3.24% year-over-year increase, rising from $429,945 in September 2024 to $443,850 in September 2025, the report shows.
The big picture: Home prices aren't just going up in the city of Charlotte. They're rising in the suburbs, too.
Between the lines: Developers may be slow to break ground, but that isn't stopping people from moving to the Charlotte area and looking for a place to live.
- The Charlotte metro grew by 78,255 people from 2023 to 2024, according to the report.
Zoom out: Infrastructure is a significant concern as well, Chu says. That encompasses everything from sewage to transportation to public schools.
- These areas need to be addressed in order to add more housing supply and keep prices from skyrocketing, Chu says.
The bottom line: "If you think you want to buy a house, don't wait," Chu tells Axios. "I just don't see the possibility that prices will go significantly lower or that interest rates will go significantly lower."