Visions of Charlotte – Anne Marie Howard

Anne Marie Howard – CEO, Charlotte Regional Realtor Association
Anne Marie Howard has been the CEO of the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association since 2001. Prior to that, Howard served as deputy executive director of the Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition.

Have EpiCentre and the Cultural Campus increased uptown’s draw as a place to live – not just work?
Absolutely. I hear people talking about both all the time, and it’s really starting to become a regional draw for entertainment. And more people are making uptown Charlotte their destination for entertainment, which is really cool. And it’s new, it’s a change, so the word’s definitely getting out.

What demographics are being attracted to uptown and to Charlotte as a whole?
It’s a variety, and uptown in particular ¬ I think with the growth they’re getting everything from the young singles to the empty nesters and everything in between. I think that uptown living is just a microcosm of the whole of Charlotte. However, there is evidence that some young families are being attracted to uptown living.

What does uptown need to offer to win over the young professionals? Are we drawing them now?
There’s been a lot that’s happened in the last couple years to draw the young professionals, but I think more needs to be done. More needs to be done in the way of retail in the way of shopping and restaurants, and more neighborhood full-service grocery stores. But I think we’re getting there. I think a lot has been done to beef up entertainment, and the variety of entertainment uptown. I also think transportation is a lot easier, so I do think young professionals are being drawn. I do see uptown Charlotte as having the amenities to continue to attract that young professional, and if they can get enough full-service grocery stores and parks, they will even increase the number of young families.

Does a bad economy hurt Charlotte’s chances of populating the residential sections of uptown more than the suburbs? Can those areas come back if left unoccupied until the economy recovers?
I don’t think you can say “more than,” because clearly it’s all about personal choice. In fact, with some condos going to rental, it’s actually going to help because that will provide more options for people to not necessarily have to buy. So it will provide that spectrum of availability along different price points. I do have a sense that in a weak economy, when people are watching every penny they spend, and there are options to move to a place closer to work and not rely on a car, there’s a possibility that the population will continue to grow in uptown. There’s a lot more potential for the positive than not in the coming years.

What are condo rental conversions doing to the developments uptown, and how do they affect real estate values?
My speculation is that it’s allowing uptown to be competitive price-wise, so there will be more of a draw from a variety of demographics to possibly move to uptown that might not have considered it otherwise. But at the same time there are still projects under way. It’s not like uptown is just sitting in mothballs. There’s stuff going on and stuff coming online, so while there may be high vacancy rates, it’s not all negative, and I think there’s a lot of potential.

What can Charlotteans be optimistic about in terms of the near and distant real estate future?
As I say to my members and to the public, we have a lot to be bullish about in our market, and I think the Charlotte Chamber does a great job as far as economic development, and I think we are far more diverse from an economic standpoint and an industry standpoint than a lot of consumers understand. I don’t want to diminish the role that the banks have played, but at the same time I think other industries are stepping up and expanding, so that we will not suffer as greatly as other parts of the country. If you’re a qualified buyer, right now is a great time to buy. It’s a matter of time until we can get the distressed properties through the system, but I think it won’t be a huge hit, so I think pricing will start to level off. I don’t think we’re going to be in stellar markets for the next few years, but we’re not going to be doing too bad, either. We just got recognized by Forbes Magazine and Builder Magazine in January of this year as having a strong economy and housing market, so I think Charlotte is seen as having a strong quality of life. We’re still attracting newcomers here. The potential for future job growth is pretty strong if we can just get through the worst of it.

What can we expect to see in the coming year?
We are going to skip along the bottom, and 2010 is going to be similar to 2009 from a job standpoint and consumer standpoint. We will start to pick up, and a year from now we will be slightly better than we are now, and we’re slightly better off now than we were a year ago. And that’s very typical of Charlotte: steady as she goes.

~Clay Whittaker