By: Bryan Davis
Click here to view or print the entire monthly report compliments of the ACRE Corporate Cabinet.
Sales: Lake Martin area* residential sales totaled 43 units during December, an increase of 16 percent from the same period last year. This is by far the best month of December for home sales at Lake Martin over the past decade. Year-to-date sales through December are up 26 percent above 2014. Two more resources to review: Quarterly Report and Annual Report
For all of Lake Martin’s area housing data, click here.
Forecast: December sales were 48 percent or 14 units above our monthly forecast. Alabama Center for Real Estate’s (ACRE) year-to-date sales forecast through December projected 495 closed transactions while the actual sales were 600 units, a rise of 21 percent.
Supply: The Lake Martin area housing inventory in December was 342 units, a decrease of 24 percent from December 2014 and 45 percent below (this is good news) the December peak in 2008 (621 units). In addition, December inventory decreased by 17 percent from the prior month. This direction is consistent with historical data indicating that December inventory on average (2010-14) decreases from November by 10.5 percent. There were 8 months of housing supply in December (6 months considered equilibrium in December NSA), a favorable decrease of 35 percent from last December’s 12.2 months of supply.
Demand: Residential sales increased 34 percent from the prior month. This direction is consistent with seasonal patterns and historical data indicating December sales on average (2010-14) increase by 26.2 percent from November.
Pricing: The Lake Martin area median sales price in December was $250,000, an increase of 31.6 percent from December 2014 but a 9.1 percent decrease compared to the prior month. Historical data indicate that the December median sales price (2010-14) typically increases 17 percent from November. 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. A broader lens as to pricing trends is appropriate and we highly recommend contacting a local real estate professional for additional market pricing information.
