With the first half of 2012 is behind us, its a good time to take a closer look at the local Huntsville Real Estate market and assess how the overall market is doing.
I think you all know me well enough by now to realize I don’t sugar coat things, I don’t “spin” my articles to please others and I am factual. I spend hours gathering my data to ensure I am sending you the information you deserve. Honest information! That’s what @Homes Realty Group thrives on….honesty!
Homes Sales Have Bottomed and Remain Basically Flat
We are going to take a different approach than just comparing year-over-year statistics, as is the practice of our monthly reports from the local board. Thus the chart below takes a much longer view and compares the first 6 months of Huntsville Home Sales for the past 7 years.
While year-over-year comparisons are quite promising indicating local homes sales have increased +14% over the same period during 2011, a closer look at the previous years of results shows that sales are actually slightly less than 2010 results and still down some -28% from the housing crisis year of 2007.
Is It a Good Time to Buy a Huntsville Home?
I dread saying its simply a good time to buy, it seems every Realtors® market assessment always ends with ‘It’s a good time to buy‘, no matter the current market conditions. Market reality is of course always marked with both positive and negative indicators, and the positive is often spun. Nevertheless simply following the old investment adage of buying low and selling high, current market conditions do offer some historic opportunities.
In the chart below, I have mapped the Median Sales Price and Days-on-Market, during the 1st 6 months of 2006-2012. Huntsville Median Home Prices has declined some -5% when compared with previous years and are currently at 2006-2007 levels and Days-on-Market (the avg time it takes to sell a home) has risen to 98 days, both positive indicators for current home buyers. Moreover the cost of home ownership is not just related to lower home prices, because almost all home purchases include a mortgage and mortgage rates are at historic lows ranging from 3.4% – 3.7% nation wide… So are we seeing a housing market bottom?
The Outlook For a Housing Market Recovery
While the Huntsville Housing Market has fared much better than many areas of the country we are not immune to national economics, many who have followed the national housing market closely are signalling a bottom with national home sales and prices edging up over the last several months.
The current economic recovery is nevertheless somewhat anemic and at its current pace unemployment rates won’t likely return to what we consider normal for another 5 – 7 years. Thus our expectation is that while the housing market may have found a bottom, the upward recover to previous levels will like proceed at the national pace of overall economic recovery, that is Slowly.
Nonetheless, if your employment and credit history are stable and you’re in a position to live in a new home over the next 5 -7 years it would be difficult to find a better opportunity to purchase a home given current interest rate levels. A housing market recovery will come, mortgage rates will rise, and Huntsville Home Buyers are currently out there in numbers kicking the tires, and finding deals.
If you would like more in-depth data on the Huntsville real estate market or surrounding areas, we will be happy to provide that information. Just give us a call, hit the “contact me” button or drop us an email.
@Homes Realty Group strives to be your trusted advisor. Our mission is to earn your trust throughout your experience, ensuring that you live where you love.
- Elizabeth
