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

Sales: According to the Multiple Listing Service of the Shoals Area Association of Realtors, Shoals area residential sales totaled 163 units during August, up 10 percent from the same period last year. Another resource to review is the Annual Report.

For all Shoals-area real estate data, click here. 

Year-to-date home sales in Shoals through August rose 1.2 percent over the same period in 2015.

Forecast: August’s 163 home sales were 15 units or 10 percent above the Alabama Center for Real Estate’s monthly forecast. ACRE’s year-to-date sales forecast through August projected 1,045 closed transactions, and actual closed sales were at 1,119, a 7 percent positive difference.

Supply: Shoals area housing inventory totaled 1,019 units, a decrease of 8.7 percent from August 2015. Inventory has favorably declined 22 percent from the August peak of 1,308 units in 2010.

The inventory-to-sales ratio in August was 6.3 months of housing supply, a decrease of 17 percent from last August. Restated, at the August sales pace, it would take 6.3 months to absorb the current inventory for sale. The market equilibrium (balance between supply and demand) is considered to be approximately 6 months during August.

Demand: August sales decreased 10 percent from the prior month. Historical data from 2011-15 indicate sales typically decrease 3.9 percent from July to August.

Pricing: The Shoals area median sales price in August was $131,500, an increase from $126,000 in August 2015. The median sales price increased 1.2 percent from the prior month. This direction is consistent with historical data indicating that the August median sales price on average (2011-15) increases by 6.2 percent from July. Pricing can fluctuate from month to month as the sample size of data (closed transactions) 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 Shoals August Housing Report, including Total Sales, Average Sales Price, Days on the Market, Total Inventory and Months of Supply. 

The Shoals Area Residential Monthly Report is developed in conjunction with the Shoals Area Association of Realtors to better serve its area consumers.