CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The sun is rising on a new day in Charlotte's real estate market; one of hope, optimism and promise.  It's a welcome change from the past few years, when the news about home sales, a major indicator of the health of the US economy, was anything but positive.  "It's been like no market I've ever seen," says broker Tommy Williams.  He feels good about 2012.  Williams showed us one his recent listings, a $348K, 3,000 square foot brick home in south Charlotte.  He says, "I would say the last three to four months, it's starting to pick back up."

Williams says it's not just a fluke.  Interest rates are still low.  Businesses are starting to re-locate employees here again.  Sellers are coming to grips with the market value of their homes.  And, "What I'm really happy to see is we're starting to sell those mid-range prices again that had gone by the wayside for the last few years.  We're selling $300, $400, $500, $600,000 houses, which weren't selling this time last year at all," says Williams.

And here's more evidence.  Take a look at these numbers that compare December 2010 to December 2011.  In '11, there were 26% fewer homes on the market.  But home sales increased by 2.5%.  "What that really means is less supply with a little more demand. And whenever you have that, it's always a good sign," says Scott Jensen, a buyer's agent.

Jensen says there's even another indicator that the real estate market is on the uptick.  He says in a healthy market, homes take between six to nine months to sell.  "In 2010 in December, the months of inventory was about 11.7.  In 2011, that dropped to 8.4.  That puts us in that healthy category," says Jensen.

Charlotte's real estate reboot is good news for our local economy and for our neighborhoods.  As the sun sets on this day, tomorrow holds a lot of promise.  "In general, I think everyone thinks 2012 is gonna be a better year," says Williams.

The experts say rental rates are also increasing, which is good news for home sales.  More renters are starting to decide that it makes better financial sense to take advantage of low interest rates and buy rather than pay a landlord.