Charlotte: Another Southern Real Estate Belle
By Graham Summers
December 11, 2006
I'm convinced that the nationwide real estate "bubble" is a load of bunk.
There are certainly areas of the U.S. that have reached bubble proportions: New York, Miami, and sections of California immediately come to mind. But the idea that real estate is out of control nationwide seems ridiculous.
There are plenty of major U.S. cities where real estate is just getting started. We've already covered this in Nashville, Tennessee, where you can get a downtown condo for $300 per square foot, and a home in the historic part of town just outside the city for $150 per square foot.
The same looks to be true for another Southern belle: Charlotte, North Carolina.
For starters, Charlotte is big. Between the city and its neighboring regions, some 2.2 million individuals call Charlotte home. It's the 18th largest city in the U.S.
Like Nashville, Charlotte has a wide variety of industries. Wachovia Bank was founded there under the name Charlotte National Bank in 1897. Today, both Wachovia and Bank of America are headquartered there. Charlotte is also home to seven Fortune 500 companies. It's not just domestic businesses, either.
More than 630 foreign-owned companies have offices in the Charlotte region. In fact, if North Carolina and South Carolina were a separate country, it would have the 12th largest economy in the world, with over $397 billion in gross domestic product. This would place it just below Australia in terms of GDP.
Altogether we're talking about more than 200 automotive companies, 1,250 machine-part companies, and 60 medical-equipment companies in around Charlotte.
Charlotte has an NFL team and an NBA team. It's also the NASCAR capital of the world: 90% of all NASCAR teams and companies are within 50 miles of downtown Charlotte. On top of this, there are four universities, 11 liberal-arts colleges, and 10 community colleges in the Charlotte region.
You'd think a city with this much to offer would be expensive. You'd be wrong. Charlotte's cost of living index is below that of Dallas, Denver, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Miami. And the average home price in Charlotte is $116,000, well below the national average of $130,000.
You can buy a gorgeous three-bedroom house in the historic section of downtown Charlotte for $240-$300 per square foot. Brand new luxury condos are selling for roughly the same price. Bubble prices? No way.
I've got a piece of advice for the analysts worried about the housing bubble: Spend some time outside of your million-dollar Manhattan condo. Take a look at what's happening outside of your Newport Beach mansion. You won't find a housing bubble in places like Iowa, Texas, or Tennessee.
I'm headed to Charlotte later this month to dig up more. If you are in the Charlotte are or have any contacts in the real estate market, e-mail growthstockwire@gmail.com.
Good trading,
Graham
