New home sales in Alabama during January up over 2016
January housing starts were up 11 percent from a year earlier, and sales prices for new homes were up about 2 percent. (iStock)
Click here to view or print the entire new home monthly report compliments of the ACRE Corporate Cabinet.
Demand: New home sales totaling 311 units in January increased 20.1 percent from last year. January new homes sales were 30.7 percent below the prior month. Average days on the market in January of 102 represent a 15.4 percent decrease from last January.
New home sales in Alabama’s five major markets rose 20 percent in January compared to the previous year.
Supply: Months of new home supply in January was 6.2 months. Statewide new construction inventory is approximately 1.5 percent above last January but down 5.2 percent from last month.
Pricing: Alabama’s metro median new home sales price during January was $229,792, an increase of 1.6 percent from January 2016 and a decrease of 7.1 percent from the prior month.
New home pipeline: January statewide housing starts were up 10.9 percent from 2016 and up 3 percent from December. Statewide building permits in January were up 25.1 percent from January 2016 and were up 20.5 percent from the prior month.
Local results: Fifteen of the 27 associations (55 percent) reported building permit gains from January 2016, and 15 associations (55 percent) experienced gains in housing starts. Twelve associations experienced an increase from their December 2016 monthly housing starts.
Industry perspective: From Robert Dietz, National Association of Home Builders chief economist: “New home sales contracts expanded by 3.7 percent in January over a soft December reading, according to estimates from the joint data release of HUD and the Census Bureau. Despite the gain, which places the January pace of sales 5.5 percent higher than a year ago, the current seasonally adjusted annual rate of 555,000 is slightly below the positive growth trend that has been in place over the last few years.”
The ACRE New Construction Monthly Report stems from a partnership with the Home Builders Association of Alabama Foundation. The Alabama Center for Real Estate’s core purpose is to advance the industry by providing relevant research, education and outreach.
