Click here to view or print the entire monthly report compliments of the Alabama Center for Real Estate Corporate Cabinet. Join the Center mailing list here.

Sales: Alabama home sales totaling 5,301 units during August were an increase of 15.4 percent from the same month a year ago. Year-to-date home sales for the state through August were up 7.1 percent compared to the same period last year. Two more resources to review: Quarterly Report and Annual Report.

Year-to-date home sales in Alabama through August rose 7 percent over the same period last year.

Forecast: August sales were 13 percent or 628 units above the Alabama Center for Real Estate‘s (ACRE) monthly forecast. ACRE’s year-to-date sales forecast through August projected 33,909 closed transactions, while the actual sales were 36,905 units, a favorable difference of 9 percent.

Supply: The statewide housing inventory during August was 29,870 units, a decrease of 10 percent from August 2015 and 29 percent below the August peak in 2007 (42,150 units). There were 5.6 months of housing supply in August (6 months is considered equilibrium), which represents a favorable drop of 22 percent from August 2015 (7.2 months).

August inventory decreased from July by 2 percent. This direction contrasts with historical data that indicate August inventory on average (2011-15) increases from July by 6.4 percent.

Seeking balance: The metro markets in Alabama representing 70 percent of all sales continued to trend toward greater seller bargaining power with 5 months of supply. Outside the metro markets, Alabama’s midsized markets are reporting 6.2 months of supply, while rural areas are reporting 8 months of supply. There have been significant improvements from inventory peaks experienced during the recession. The supply of quality inventory in the past has affected sales, according to some boots-on-the-ground professionals.

Industry perspective: “Consumers have a fairly optimistic 12-month outlook on housing at the end of the summer home-buying season, supported by increased job confidence and more favorable expectations regarding their personal financial situations compared with this time last year,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “The return to a slight upward trend in the HPSI (Home Purchase Sentiment Index) during the spring and summer is, thus far, in line with our forecast, which calls for 4 percent growth in home sales in 2016 to the best level since 2006 and continued improvement for 2017.” For the full report, click here.

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

The Alabama Residential Monthly Report is developed in conjunction with the Alabama Association of Realtors and its local associations.