Lee County May home sales up 36 percent from last year
Lee County median home sales prices in May were up 15.5 percent from a year ago. (iStock)
Click here to view or print the entire monthly report.
Sales: According to the Lee County Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service, Lee County residential sales totaled 274 units during May, an increase of 78 units or 36.3 percent from the same month in 2017. Existing single-family homes accounted for 61 percent of all residential sales for the month, while condos were 17 percent and new construction represented the remaining 22 percent. Two more resources to review: Quarterly Report and Annual Report.
Click here for all of the Alabama Center for Real Estate’s Lee County residential data.
Forecast: May sales in Lee County were 48 units or 21.2 percent above ACRE’s monthly forecast. ACRE projected 226 closed transactions for the month, while there were 274 actual closed sales. ACRE forecasts a total of 2,035 sales for the area during 2018. There were 1,867 actual sales in Lee County during 2017.
Supply: The Lee County housing inventory in May was 540 units, a decrease of .4 percent from May 2017 and a 64.4 percent decrease from the 10-year inventory peak in 2010 (1,516 units). May inventory in Lee County increased 4.7 percent from the previous month.
Demand: May residential sales increased 39.8 percent from April. This direction is consistent with historical data indicating that May sales on average (2013-17) increase 31.9 percent from April. Homes selling in May averaged 52 days on the market, a decrease of 1.9 percent from last year. The five-year days-on-the-market (DOM) average for Lee County during May is 142 days.
Seeking balance: The inventory for sale divided by the current monthly sales volume equals the number of months of supply. The market is considered to be in balance at approximately 6 months. The inventory-to-sales ratio in May was 2 months of housing supply, decreasing from 2.6 months of supply in April and down from 2.7 months of supply one year ago.
Pricing: The Lee County median sales price during May was $240,438, up 15.5 percent from one year ago. The May median sales price effectively did not change from the previous month. This is inconsistent with historical data (2013-17) indicating that the May median sales price on average increases from the April price by 7 percent. 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 to discuss the latest pricing trends.
Industry perspective: In both Alabama and the United States, the spring home-buying season has been affected greatly by very low inventory levels. April residential listings decreased 10 percent in the state and decreased 6 percent nationwide from one year ago. Residential sales in Alabama, however, increased 16 percent from one year ago, which is impressive considering the 10 percent drop in inventory. Home price appreciation cooled off somewhat as the statewide median sales price increased 2 percent from one year ago, while it increased 7 percent during the first quarter of the year. Going forward, home sales prices are expected to continue their upward climb during the summer as inventory levels are likely to repeat the declines that were seen during the spring.
Click here to generate more graphs from the Lee County May Housing Report, including Total Sales, Average Sales Price, Days on the Market, Total Inventory and Months of Supply.
The Lee County Residential Monthly Report is developed in conjunction with the Lee County Association of Realtors.
