Wiregrass area residential sales up 39% in May - Year To Date sales up 10%

May residential sales in the Wiregrass area increased 39.4 percent from this same period last year. Sales also went up by 29.6 percent (21 units) from last month. That makes it up 9.9 percent for this year versus last year over the same period.

Wiregrass area residential sales up 39% from May 2012.

Housing inventory still remains high - up 1.9% from May 2012. To me, this figure may be skewed by the fact that Builders have been more active over the last year.

Supply: Wiregrass area housing inventory totaled 1,021 units (up 1.9 percent from May 2012). May inventory decreased by 0.7 percent from April. Over the last four years, the May inventory, on average, increases from April by 4.4 percent. Inventory levels remain above normal, a trend that needs to reverse. The inventory-to-sales ratio in May remains higher than desired at 11.1 months of housing supply - i.e., it will take 11.1 months to sell what we have now at the current sales rate. The market equilibrium (balance between supply and demand) is considered to be approximately 6-7 months, so we definitely need to pick up the pace.

Demand: May residential sales were 29.6 percent above the prior month. Residential sales are seasonal and history indicates that May sales on average (’08-’12) typically increase from the month of April by 11.1 percent. Days on Market (DOM) until home is sold was 169 days, 7 percent higher than last May.

Pricing: The Wiregrass area median selling price in May was $121,000, down 23.7 percent from last May. Again, history from the last 4 years data ('08-'12) shows the May median selling price typically goes up from the month of April by 6.1 percent. Pricing can vary from month-to-month as the sample size of data (closed transactions) is subject to seasonal buying.

Sequester: This is going to have a lot to do with local prices as it filters down to this area. With the Market being driven by what happens at Ft. Rucker, this is a concern. I know of some cutbacks, but then there are other areas that are being expanded, so i belive there will be a slow change, but we'll end up about the same.

 

Info from The Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE)