CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The latest numbers from the real estate firm Zillow Inc. show housing values in Charlotte are continuing to drop.
Zillow indicates Charlotte's home values have declined 9.8 percent this year to date and the average home is now valued at $135,000.
But over at the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association, CEO Anne Marie Howard says she has some doubts.
"I think that Zillow's numbers should be taken with a grain of salt," Howard said.
Howard said Zillow is a national organization that only looks at public records in determining housing values.
"They only have access to certain information and clearly they are not on the ground in the local market and there is a lot more to assessing the value then the sales price," she said.
In Charlotte's Madison Park neighborhood, Bo Collins was out front checking on the condition of the house he is trying to sell.
"It's been on the market for a year and seven months," he said. So far he has had no luck.
Collins was out cleaning the front yard. It is a job he does once a week.
Realtor Scott Lindsley said Collins was doing the right thing and sellers these days need to work hard on the home's curb appeal and cleanliness.
"Do anything you can to make sure that you've got your best foot forward," said Lindsley.
Collins says he does try to do that but has still had to lower the asking price by $57,000 dollars.
"I'm going to hold out as long as I can," he said, adding, "I'm thinking about putting it on the market as a lease or renting it at the end of the summer."
Realtors are now cautiously optimistic about the future for sellers despite the Zillow report.
"Clearly we are leveling off. We will never have the sales we had two years ago but we are addressing a new market and things are starting to look up," said Howard.
