National home prices rise, Huntsville ranks high in institutional purchases

Cityscape scene of downtown Huntsville, Alabama, from Big Spring Park after sunset
Home prices are on the rise in more than a third of the 94 major markets surveyed by RealtyTrac during October.

Home prices are on the rise across the country, and Alabama’s largest metros are seeing increases as well.
According to RealtyTrac’s October home sales report, 33 markets (35 percent) experienced new peaks in home prices during the fall month.
Huntsville, the lone Alabama metro to make RealtyTrac’s October highlights, had one of the nation’s largest shares of institutional investor purchases or homes bought by groups that buy at least 10 properties during a single year.
Huntsville had a 10.1 percent share of institutional purchases during October, the report said.
As for the rest of the country, the news on home prices looks positive.
The median sales price for the entire U.S. during October was $207,500, up 10 percent from last October. That’s the 44th consecutive month with year-over-year increases in the median sales price.
“Home price appreciation did not go into hibernation in October even as the housing market entered the typically slower fall season,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “More than one-third of the nation’s major housing markets have now reached new home price peaks this year, and nearly 90 percent of markets posted an annual increase in home prices in October. Home sellers are sitting pretty in this market, realizing an average profit-since-purchase of 16 percent — the highest in any month since December 2007, on the cusp of the Great Recession.”
Nearly 90 percent of all markets reported year-over-year increases in median sales prices.
During October, Alabama had a 5.3 percent increase in its median sales price, compared to October 2014. The median sales price this year was $139,401, which established a new peak for the state.
Birmingham also had a new peak median sales price of $167,500 during October, a 1.5 percent increase over last year.
Huntsville matched the 2010 peak of $175,000 during October, a 4.2 percent increase over last year.