How We Grew

Slow Start

Going into our 100th anniversary year, membership in Canopy Realtor® Association stood at 13,610 as of December 31, 2020. That’s a long way from the handful of real estate leaders who started the group in 1921. 

An unsuccessful early attempt at an MLS in 1923 reflected 27 subscribers to the service and 53 properties listed, according to Association records. The subscriber number is probably close to how many members the Association had at that time as well.

Membership growth was slow early on, and no doubt held back by the stock market crash in 1929 and the Great Depression in the 1930s. By 1936, membership had risen to only 44 members and seven associate members, Association records show. 

Growth Picks Up

Real estate growth was stagnant again during World War II, and the Association had an estimated 60 members in 1950. But that same year, there were positive happenings. The MLS returned for good, and the Association rented its first office to operate the service, located in Latta Arcade in uptown Charlotte.

Membership picked up considerable steam through the 1950s and 1960s and stood at 500 in 1966. Two years later, the Association began construction on its first headquarters (at Third and McDowell streets) and was slated to move in in 1969, records show. 

The Association outgrew the location in less than 10 years, buying a building at 1356 East Morehead Street in 1977. Membership by this time had doubled from the 1966 total to 1,010 in ’77.

The 1980s were prosperous in Charlotte, and membership more than doubled again in 1990 to approximately 2,600. The following year, the Association purchased a building at 1201 Greenwood Cliff and moved in two years later, in 1993. The next year, Realtors® in Iredell County (including Alexander County except for Wittenburg Township) became a part of the Association.

New HQ

After moving to 1201 Greenwood Cliff in 1993, the Association began to buy nearby properties as they became available over the next 20 years or so.

By 2014, the Association Board of Directors voted to sell the accumulated property, 5.2 acres, to developer Peter Pappas who, as part of the agreement, would build the Association a new headquarters on part of the property. 

In 2019, the Association moved into its four-story, 58,697-square-foot building at 1120 Pearl Park Way with 85 percent equity. That same year, Haywood County asked to become part of the Association and was officially on board as of January 1, 2020.

MLS Growth

As the Association has expanded since the mid-1990s, the MLS has grown even more. 

The MLS has had two spurts of regional growth — one from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s and another that began in 2018. 

In the first expansion, the MLS added Union County (included Anson County) in 1989, followed by Lincoln County and Cabarrus (included Montgomery, Stanly counties) in 1993. Gaston and Iredell counties came on board in 1994. The Iredell association also included Alexander County except for Wittenburg Township.

Fast forward to 2018. North Carolina Mountains MLS, made up mainly of Buncombe, Haywood and Henderson counties, consolidated with Canopy MLS that year. Other counties in mountains group included Polk, Madison and Transylvania counties.

A year later, MLSs from Burke, McDowell and Salisbury/Rowan counties joined in 2019, as did South Carolina’s Piedmont Regional MLS, made up of York, Lancaster and Chester counties. In 2020, North Carolina-based MLSs in Cleveland and Catawba counties (included Caldwell County) merged with Canopy MLS.

At the end of 2020, the MLS had 20,192 subscribers and served Realtors® in 25 counties in North and South Carolina.

For more on the MLS’s history and growth, click here.