March residential sales in greater Huntsville/Madison County area experienced an 2.1 percent increase when compared to March 2011. The last time Huntsville’s real estate market experienced positive sales growth in March when compared to the previous year was in 2010.
March represents the fourth consecutive month that Huntsville home sales have improved when compared to the same month from the prior year.
Supply: Huntsville housing inventory totaled 2,795 units, a decrease of 10.4 percent from this time last year. March inventory in Huntsville experienced a 1.9 percent increase when compared to the prior month. This trend is consistent with historical data that indicates March inventory on average (’07-’11) traditionally increases from the month of February by 2.6 percent.
Demand: Existing single family home sales accounted for 72 percent (up from 67% in March ’11) of total sales, new homes sales accounted for 27 percent (down from 30% in Feb ’11) while condos were 1% (down from 3%).
Residential sales are seasonal, typically peaking during the late spring/early summer. Another trend happens at the beginning of each year when sales routinely outperform results from the prior month as the market transitions toward its peak transactional period – the 2nd quarter. Huntsville residential sales were 15.5 percent up from the prior month. This movement, while not as robust, is consistent with historical data indicating that Huntsville sales, on average (’07-’11), traditionally increase from the month of February by 28.3 percent.
Pricing: The Huntsville median selling price in March was $155,900, a decrease of 10.9 percent from last March. This figure also represents a decrease of 2.7 percent when compared to the prior month. Historical data (’07-’11) indicates that the March median selling price traditionally increases from the month of February by .6 percent.
As the market transitions into the second quarter of 2012, statistical volatility is anticipated. With that said, the volatility should continue to moderate as for the first time in several years, there are no home buying tax-incentives in play in either year (2011 or 2012) that has skewed the comparative figures over the last several years.
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