Sales: According to the Alabama Realtors, new home sales in December decreased 0.2% year-over-year (Y/Y) from 1,134 to 1,132 closed transactions, passing the 1,000 mark for the first time since June 2021. Following seasonal trends, sales increased 44.4% from November. New home sales are up 1.0% year to date. New homes represented 17.0% of all residential sales in Alabama during December, down from 17.8% one year ago.
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Inventory: New homes listed for sale decreased 40.1% year-over-year from 2,288 listings one year ago to 1,370 in December. New builds represented 15.7% of all homes listed for sale in the state.
At the current sales pace, all the active inventory on the market would sell in 1.2 months, down from 2.1 months in November and down from 2.0 months in December 2020. The equilibrium point where buyers and sellers have roughly equal bargaining power is 6 months of supply.
Pricing: The median sales price for new construction in December was $321,024, an increase of 17.2% from one year ago and an increase of 3.8% from November. The differing sample size (number of residential sales of comparative months) can contribute to statistical volatility, including pricing. ACRE recommends consulting with a local real estate professional to discuss pricing, as it will vary from neighborhood to neighborhood.
New homes sold in December averaged 25 days on the market (DOM), 33 days faster than one year ago.
National Overview: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, new home sales nationwide were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 811,000 in December. This represents a 11.9% increase from the revised November rate of 725,000 but is 14.0% below the December 2020 estimate of 943,000
The median sales price for new homes increased 3.4% Y/Y from $365,300 to $377,700.
Supply of new homes was estimated at 408,000 (seasonally adjusted) in December. Months of supply increased from 3.9 one year ago to 7.2 in December 2021.
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Monthly New Home Sales Data: Athens, Baldwin County, Birmingham, Calhoun County, Gadsden, Huntsville, Lee County, Marshall County, Mobile, Montgomery, Morgan County, Tuscaloosa, and the Wiregrass region.
The Alabama New Construction Monthly Report is developed in connection with the Alabama Association of Realtors.
Additional Resources: Database of building permits and housing starts for all Alabama Counties and MSAs.
Editor’s Note: All information in this article reflects data provided to the Alabama Center for Real Estate for the time period December 1 – 31, 2021. Thus, the performance represented is historical and should not be used as an indicator of future results.
