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 584 units during July, a slip in sales of 2.7 percent or 16 units from the same period last year. Year-to-date sales increased 10.5 percent over the same period last year. Two more resources to review: Quarterly Report and Annual Report.
For all of Huntsville’s area housing data, click here.
Forecast: Closed transactions in July were 20 units or 3.5 percent above the Alabama Center for Real Estate’s monthly forecast. ACRE’s year-to-date sales forecast through July projected 3,219 closed transactions, while the actual sales were 3,634 units, a favorable difference of 13 percent.
Supply: The Rocket City’s housing inventory totaled 2,709 units, a decrease of 14 percent from last July. New home inventory is up 91 units year-over-year, while existing single-family inventory is down 495 units.
The inventory-to-sales ratio in July was 4.6 months of housing supply. The market equilibrium (balance between supply and demand) is considered to be about 6 months during July. Huntsville continues to move in a favorable direction when it comes to its inventory-to-sales ratio. The market in July experienced a 2.3 percent decrease in inventory when compared to June. Historical data indicate a typical 2.5 percent decrease from June to July.
Demand: Residential sales in July decreased by 15 percent from June. This direction is consistent with seasonal patterns and historical data indicating that July sales, on average (2011-2015), decrease from June by 2.8 percent. New home sales made up 20 percent of sales, down from 21 percent the previous July. Existing single-family home sales accounted for 78 percent of total sales, up from 76 percent in July 2015, while condos were 2 percent of sales, down from 3 percent in July 2015.
Pricing: The Huntsville median sales price in July was $190,000, an increase of 5.1 percent from July 2015 and up 5.5 percent from the prior month. This month-over-month direction is consistent with historical data (2011-2015) indicating that the July median sales price on average increases from June by 2.1 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: “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 Huntsville July 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.
