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, Marshall County sales were 5 percent above July 2015 at 85 sales for the month. Year-to-date sales in Marshall County were 9 percent above the same period last year. Another resource to review is the Annual Report.

Click here to check out all Marshall County housing data.

Marshall County home sales through July rose 9 percent over last year.

Forecast: July sales were seven units or 9 percent below the Alabama Center for Real Estate’s (ACRE) monthly forecast. ACRE’s year-to-date sales forecast through July projected 495 closed transactions, while the actual sales were 481 units, an unfavorable difference of 2.8 percent.

Supply: Marshall County housing inventory totaled 581 units, a decrease of 17 percent from July 2015. July inventory decreased 5.4 percent from June. This direction is consistent with historical data that indicate July inventory on average (2011-15) decreases from June by 2.5 percent.

The inventory-to-sales ratio has improved to 6.8 months of supply. Restated, at the July sales pace, it would take 6.8 months to absorb the current inventory for sale. This is 21 percent lower than last July’s ratio of 8.6 months of supply. The market equilibrium (balance between supply and demand) is considered to be approximately 6 months during July, so continued improvement would be welcome news for market participants.

Pricing: The Marshall County area median sales price in July was $143,500, an increase of 10.4 percent from last July’s $130,000. The July median sales price was 3.8 percent below the June median sales price. Historical data indicate that the July median sales price on average (2011-15) increases from June by 3.7 percent. Pricing can fluctuate from month to month as the sample size of data is subject to seasonal buying patterns. ACRE recommends contacting a local real estate professional for additional market pricing information. 

Industry perspective: “Financial volatility resulting from Brexit has created some uncertainty among investors as yields on government bonds have dropped sharply, Treasury yield curves have flattened over the past month, and the Chinese Yuan has depreciated to a six-year low against the dollar,” said Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan. “In addition, our view on interest rates continues to be ‘low for long’ as we believe a Fed decision to raise interest rates will likely be on hold until June of 2017. Brexit’s economic impact on the U.S. will likely be limited, especially from a trade perspective, and should be a near-term positive for the housing and mortgage market as falling mortgage rates have prompted new refinance demand.” For the full report, click here.

Click here to generate more graphs from the Marshall County July Housing Report, including Total Sales, Average Sales Price, Days on the Market, Total Inventory and Months of Supply. 

The Marshall County Residential Monthly Report is developed in conjunction with the Marshall County Board of Realtors to better serve area consumers.