Competitive buyers vying for a somewhat limited number of homes for sale have helped prices continue to climb, frequently over the asking price. The latest recorded national unemployment rate of 3.9 percent is historically low and has served as a general indicator of a strong economy. To give a better idea of how good the unemployment situation is right now, we were looking at a historically low rate of 4.3 percent last year at this time.

In the Charlotte region, for the week ending August 4:

• New Listings decreased 1.9% year-over-year to 1,327
• Pending Sales increased 12.0% year-over-year to 1,144
• Inventory decreased 12.8% year-over-year to 10,201