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

Sales: Lake Martin area residential sales totaled 39 units during December, down 9 percent from the same period in 2015. Home sales are more than double what they were in the December sales trough of 15 during 2008. Another resource to review is the Annual Report.

For all of Lake Martin’s area housing data, click here.

Home sales in the Lake Martin area rose 39 percent from November to December but slipped overall for the year.

Forecast: December sales were five units or 14 percent below the Alabama Center for Real Estate’s monthly forecast. ACRE’s 2016 sales forecast through December projected 566 closed transactions, while the actual sales were 500 units.

Supply: The Lake Martin area housing inventory in December was 334 units, a decrease of 2 percent from a year earlier and 46 percent below the December peak in 2008 of 621 units (this is good news). December inventory decreased by 17 percent from the prior month. This direction is consistent with historical data indicating that December inventory on average (2011-15) decreases from November by 12 percent. There were 8.6 months of housing supply in December (6 months is considered equilibrium in December), an increase of 7.7 percent from last December’s 8 months of supply.

Demand: Residential sales increased 39 percent from the prior month. This direction is consistent with seasonal patterns and historical data indicating December sales on average (2011-15) increase 16 percent from November.

Pricing: The Lake Martin area median sales price in December was $187,000, a decrease of 25 percent from December 2015. Pricing can and will fluctuate from month to month because of changing composition of actual sales (lakefront vs. non-lakefront) and the sample size of data (closed transactions) being subject to seasonal buying patterns. ACRE recommends contacting a local real estate professional for additional market pricing information.

Industry perspective: “The tenor of our forecast effectively remains unchanged: signs of cautious consumers this quarter, rising interest rates, the renewed increase in the U.S. dollar to a 14-year high, and heightened uncertainty in the political sphere suggest conservatism in our outlook,” said Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan. “While we are encouraged that confidence is rising across investors, consumers, businesses, economists and homebuilders, much of it appears to be in anticipation that the forthcoming Administration and the new Congress will enact fiscal policies and deregulation that will help spur growth. While we believe that some pro-growth policies could be adopted next year, it would take time for them to benefit the economy, barring any offsetting initiatives such as more restrictive trade policies.”

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

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