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 home sales in August were 14.6 percent above August 2015 at 94 sales for the month. Year-to-date sales in Marshall County were 10 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.

Year-to-date home sales in Marshall County through August rose 10 percent over the same period last year.

Forecast: August sales were 16 units or 20 percent below the Alabama Center for Real Estate’s (ACRE) monthly forecast. ACRE’s year-to-date sales forecast through August projected 573 closed transactions, while the actual sales were 575 units, a favorable difference of 0.35 percent.

Supply: Marshall County housing inventory totaled 569 units, a decrease of 13 percent from August 2015. August inventory decreased 2 percent from July. This direction is consistent with historical data that indicate August inventory on average (2011-15) decreases from July by 2 percent.

The inventory-to-sales ratio has improved to 6.1 months of supply. Restated, at the August sales pace, it would take 6.1 months to absorb the current inventory for sale. This is 24.7 percent lower than last August’s ratio of 8 months of supply. The market equilibrium (balance between supply and demand) is considered to be approximately 6 months during August, so continued improvement would be welcome news for market participants.

Pricing: The Marshall County area median sales price in August was $121,100, an increase of 6 percent from last August’s $114,500. The August median sales price was 15.6 percent below the July median sales price. Historical data indicate that the August median sales price on average (2011-15) decreases from July by 6.3 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: “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 Marshall County August 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.