Alabama Center for Real Estate’s director of research and corporate engagement, KC Conway, and research coordinator, Stuart Norton, will detail the current state of Alabama’s residential real estate climate and the 2018 outlook at ACREres, ACRE’s second annual residential real estate conference and expo on May 3, 2018 at The Club in Birmingham.
Conway will focus on national economic trends, analyzing their impact on real estate markets. Interest rates, for example, are likely to continue their rise as rate hikes are expected from the next Fed meeting. Norton will identify major trends in Alabama’s residential markets during the first quarter of 2018. Real estate professionals will “flash forward” by anticipating how they can meet their client’s needs during a time of rising interest rates and declining inventory.
“Many residential markets in the state continue to see growth in total sales and median sales price. During March, total residential sales increased in 12 of 25 markets year-over-year. During the same period median sales price increased in 21 of 25 markets year-over-year,” said Norton.
Consequently, the Alabama real estate market, much like the national real estate market, is witnessing a housing shortage.
“Although statewide inventory decreased 8.9 percent from March 2017, March inventory increased year-over-year in 7 of 25 Alabama markets. Additionally the average number of days on the market decreased year-over-year in 17 of 25 markets during March,” said Norton.
One area of the housing market that is going against declining inventory trends is the new construction market. There were an average of 3,045 new construction units listed for sale during the first quarter of 2018, up from 2,606 new construction listings during the first quarter of 2017.
“Statewide, February new construction permits increased 10.1 percent year-over-year. During this same period, new construction permits in the southeast increased 4.2 percent year-over-year, while they increased 8.6 percent year-over-year nationwide. New construction sales also continue to show growth as there were a total of 723 new construction sales in March 2018, compared to 587 during March of 2017. Year-to-date sales through March also show growth as they are up 12.8 percent from 2017,” said Norton. Norton and Conway’s presentation will feature Alabama real estate industry reports and trends in their analysis of the Alabama Housing Market. To register for the event, visit http://www.acre.culverhouse.ua.edu/acreres.
