Click here to view or print the entire monthly report compliments of the ACRE Corporate Cabinet.
Sales: According to the North Alabama Multiple Listing Service, Huntsville/Madison County residential sales totaled 744 units during June, a rise in sales of 8.1 percent or 56 units from the same month the previous year, when there were 688 total sales. Two more resources to review: Quarterly Report and Annual Report.
For all of Huntsville’s area housing data, click here.
Forecast: Closed transactions in June were 131 units or 21.3 percent above the Alabama Center for Real Estate’s monthly forecast. ACRE’s 2017 sales forecast through June projected 2,874 closed transactions, while the actual sales were 3,416 units.
Supply: The Rocket City’s housing inventory totaled 2,321 units, a decrease of 16.3 percent from the previous June. New home inventory was down 79 units year-over-year, while existing single-family inventory was down 347 units.
The inventory-to-sales ratio in June was 3.1 months of housing supply. The market equilibrium (balance between supply and demand) is considered to be about 6 months during June. The market in June experienced a 0.6 percent decrease in inventory when compared to May. Historical data indicate inventory typically increases 3.6 percent from May to June.
Demand: Residential sales in June increased by 9.6 percent from May. This direction is consistent with seasonal patterns and historical data indicating that June sales, on average (2012-2016), increase from May by 14.4 percent. New home sales made up 25 percent of sales, up from 23 percent the previous June. Existing single-family home sales accounted for 72 percent of total sales, down from 75 percent, while condos were 3 percent of sales, up from 2 percent.
Pricing: The Huntsville median sales price in June was $190,000, up 5.5 percent from June 2016 and down 1.6 percent from the prior month. This direction contrasts with historical data (2012-2016) indicating that the June median sales price on average increases from May by 4.3 percent. Pricing can fluctuate as the sample size of data is subject to seasonal buying patterns. ACRE recommends contacting a local real estate professional to discuss pricing at the neighborhood level.
Industry perspective: “While second-quarter growth is poised to rebound, we expect growth to moderate through the remainder of 2017. Consumer spending, traditionally the largest contributor to economic growth, is sluggish and is lagging positive consumer sentiment and solid hiring,” said Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan. “While labor market slack continues to diminish, wage growth is not accelerating and inflation has moved further below the Fed’s target. These conditions support our call that the Fed will continue gradual monetary policy normalization, announce its balance sheet tapering policy in September, and wait until December for additional data, especially on inflation, before raising the fed funds rate for the third time this year.”
Click here to generate more graphs from the Huntsville June Housing Report, including Total Sales, Average Sales Price, Days on the Market, Total Inventory and Months of Supply.
The Huntsville/Madison County Residential Monthly Report is developed in conjunction with the Huntsville Area Association of Realtors to better serve North Alabama consumers.
