Click here to view or print the entire monthly report compliments of the ACRE Corporate Cabinet.

Sales: According to the Greater Alabama Multiple Listing Service, the Birmingham metro area* residential sales totaled 771 units during January, 35 units or 5 percent above the same time last year. Two more resources to review: Quarterly Report and Annual Report.

For all of the Birmingham area’s housing data, click here. 

Forecast: January sales were 0.2 percent or two units below our monthly forecast. Alabama Center for Real Estate’s (ACRE) year-to-date sales forecast through January projected 773 closed transactions while the actual sales were 771 units.

Birmingham continues to trend in a positive direction for the month of January with 771 units sold during the year’s first month.

Supply: The Birmingham area housing inventory in January was 6,297 units, an increase of 1.4 percent from January 2015 but down 46 percent from the January peak in 2008 (11,757 units). January inventory in the Birmingham metro area also decreased 5.7 percent from the prior month. This direction is consistent with seasonal patterns and historical data indicating that January inventory on average (2011-15) decreases from December by 9.7 percent.

According to the Greater Alabama MLS, the Birmingham metro area market, there was 8.2 months of housing supply during January, down favorably from 8.4 during January 2015. Months of supply did increase unfavorably from December (6.6 months of supply). The “months of housing supply” is a simple calculation – homes listed (supply) divided by homes sold (demand). In general, about 6 months is considered the point of equilibrium during January.

Demand: January residential sales decreased by 23 percent from the prior month. This direction is consistent with historical data indicating that January sales, on average (2011-15), decrease from December by 20 percent.

Existing single family home sales accounted for 85 percent (down from 87 percent during January 2015) of total sales while 12 percent (unchanged from January 2015) were new home sales and 3 percent (up from 1 percent in January 2015) were condo buyers.

Pricing: The median sales price in January was $164,900, an increase of 6.4 percent from last January ($155,000). The January median sales price also decreased 6 percent from the prior month. This direction is consistent with historical data (2011-15) indicating that the January median sales price on average decreases from December by 4.6 percent. Pricing can fluctuate from month to month as the sample size of data (closed transactions) is subject to seasonal buying patterns. Consulting with a local real estate professional who has access to pricing data at the neighborhood level is recommended.

Industry Perspective: “Housing affordability is being constrained because the pace of growth in real income has not kept up with gains in real home prices as demand has grown faster than supply,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “On the bright side, consumers have been increasingly positive about their ability to get a mortgage, suggesting that credit tightness is not the main issue limiting housing market activity today, a feeling that we also see conveyed by lenders in our Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey^®. We expect further progress in the HPSI to be limited until income growth picks up or supply, particularly in lower-priced homes, expands more rapidly.” For more information, click here.

On average, homes sold in the Birmingham area during January sold for $200,793.

On average, homes sold in Birmingham during January spent 81 days on the market.

Supply continues to trend in a downward and favorable direction in Birmingham.

The median sales price for homes sold during January in Birmingham was $164,900.

Months of supply continues to trend slowly toward equilibrium for the month of January in Birmingham.

There were 771 units sold in Birmingham during January, a 5 percent rise over 2015.

The five-year average between 2011-’15 for sales in Birmingham was 632.

The Birmingham Residential Monthly Report is work product developed in conjunction with the Greater Alabama MLS and the Birmingham Association of REALTORS to better serve Birmingham metro area consumers.