Average home sales prices rose 8% in 2015 and the number of sales jumped 21%.
That means we are nearing the market highs of 2007-08, before the Big Tumble clipped 29.5% off home prices on the Eastern Shore.
What to make of things then, and now? The big takeaway, for me, is that our communities have remained so persistently popular
Home prices have increased nearly 27% in Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope in the past few years. And, when you look around, you see lots of new construction.
In fact, new construction represents 27% of all the houses out there for sale, and a whopping 39% of homes under contract.
You might say that new construction is the rising tide that’s lifting all boats. Here’s an interesting little statistic: Average price per square foot of new construction is $113.29. The average for existing homes is $110.52. (Please keep in mind that this is an average, embracing waterfront, golf communities, etc. This does not mean every house is worth $110.52 per square foot. I know that mine is not, although you couldn’t put a price on my excitement about my newly granite-topped kitchen!)
Overall, in 2015 there were 1,772 sales with an average price of $272,905, compared to 1,463 sales in 2014 with an average price of $252,706. Sellers took on aver 2.7% off list price in order to sell. Days on market stood at 146.
The 4th quarter also registered modest gains: 376 homes sold with average price of $283,160, compared to 364 sales with an average price of $259,099 in the 4th quarter of 2014.
Spanish Fort: The average sales price again jumped by more than $10,000 for the second year in a row – from $284,997 in 2014 to $297,173 in 2015. New construction on the eastern side of the city helped boost sales to 294 homes sold, compared to 210 sales in 2014. On average, sellers took 2.6% less than list price in order to sell and market time stood at about 5 months. In the 4th quarter, 61 homes sold; average sales price was $295,372. During the same time last year, 52 homes sold with an average price of $273,338. This past quarter, sellers took about 2.9% less than list price and market time was 5 ½ months.
Daphne: 742 homes sold, compared to 622 sales in 2014. Average sales price soared to $233,433 from $217,568 in 2014. Sellers took just 2.4% off list price to sell. And market time remained steady at just a bit more than 4 months. In the 4th quarter, 150 homes sold, up from 132 sales the same time last year. The average sales price went from $216, 233 to $252,511. List-to-sale percentage was steady at 2.5% and it took on average 136 days to sell.
Fairhope: 736 homes sold – compared to 631 sales in 2014 and registered an impressive average price increase to $303,004 from $276,597 in 2014. Sellers trimmed their list prices some 3.2% in order to sell. Market time was 149 days. In the 4th quarter, sales dropped slightly from 180 in 2014 to 165. The average sales price rose from $286,419 this time last year to $306,507. Sellers took 3% off list price on average and market time was 133 days.
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