By Bryan Davis
Click here to view or print the entire monthly report compliments of the ACRE Corporate inCabet.
Sales: Lake Martin area residential sales totaled 39 units during April, a decrease of 17 percent from the same period last year. While home sales did slip for the month, compared to the past five years, home sales during April have remained steady (38 is the five-year average 2011-15). Another resource to review is the Annual Report.
For all of Lake Martin’s area housing data, click here.
Forecast: April sales were 20 percent or 10 units below the Alabama Center for Real Estate’s monthly forecast.ACRE’s year-to-date sales forecast through April projected 159 closed transactions, while the actual sales were 123 units.
Supply: The Lake Martin area housing inventory in April was 508 units, a decrease of 14.6 percent from a year ago and 32.6 percent below the April peak in 2008 of 754 units (this is good news). In addition, April inventory decreased by 2.4 percent from the prior month. This direction contrasts with historical data indicating that April inventory on average (2011-15) increases from March by 4.2 percent. There were 13 months of housing supply in April (6 months is considered equilibrium in April), an increase of 3 percent from last April’s 12.7 months of supply.
Demand: Residential sales increased 8.1 percent from the prior month. This direction contrasts with seasonal patterns and historical data indicating April sales on average (2011-15) decrease by 4.1 percent from March.
Pricing: The Lake Martin area median sales price in April was $172,000, a decrease of 13 percent from April 2015 and a 12 percent decrease compared to the prior month. Historical data indicate that the April median sales price (2011-15) typically increases 5.2 percent from March. Pricing can and will fluctuate from month to month due to changing composition of actual sales (lakefront vs. non-lakefront) and the sample size of data (closed transactions) being subject to seasonal buying patterns. ACRE recommends contacting a local real estate professional for additional market pricing information.
Industry perspective: “We can partially attribute the sizable gain in April in home-selling optimism both to a correction for last month’s unexpected dip and to typical seasonal strength in housing activity in the spring and summer,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “Even after accounting for these factors, continued tight housing supply has led to renewed strength in home price appreciation, making selling a home a more attractive prospect this year in particular. This improved sentiment could provide an extra boost of much-needed supply for the spring selling season.” For the entire report, click here.
