Christine Slaughter
Broker Associate
Realty Executives Gulf Coast
According to the Alabama Center for Real Estate at the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce, the Baldwin County residential market continues to heat up with September 2015 results showing solid year-over-year growth.
Total Residential Sales:
In its Baldwin County Residential Report - September 2015, the Center reports that total residential sales for September 2015 totaled 456 units, or 89 more transactions than the same month in 2014, which came in at 367 units. An overall increase of 24.3%. The sale of existing single-family homes, which accounted for 60% of all residential sales, stood at 275 in September 2015 compared to 224 in 2014. For condo’s,132 sales were reported in September 2015 compared to 115 sales in September of last year. When looking at the 5-year average for the month, September 2015 residential sales were up 46.1%.
Median Sales Price:
The medium sales price in Baldwin County for September 2015 was $200,338, a 5.4% increase over the September 2014 medium sales price of $190,000. The medium sales price for existing single-family homes rose to $183,881 from $165,700 in 2014. For condo’s, the price in September 2015 stood at $251,750 versus $242,000 for the same month in 2014. When looking at the 5-year average for the month, the medium sales price has risen 15.7%.
Total Units Listed for Sale:
While sales and medium sales prices continue to climb, the number of units available for sale continue to decline signifying a tightening real-estate market.
In September 2015, 3050 residential units were listed for sale, representing a near 2% decline when compared with September 2014. For existing family homes, 1,816 units were listed for sale versus 1,881 for the same month last year. For condo units, 1,032 were up for sale compared with 1,045 in 2014. The 5-year average for the month shows an overall 7.6% decline in available units for sale.
Inventory-to-Sales Ratio:
The inventory-to-sales ratio tells us the number of months of supply. It’s a key measure of our real estate market because it takes both supply and demand into account telling us how balanced our market is. A lower ratio - fewer months of supply - tells us the demand for housing is healthy. A higher ratio signifies that demand is cooling off.
For September 2015, the inventory-to-sales ratio was 6.7 down from 8.5 for the same month last year. The 5-year average for the month shows a 40.2% decline in the ratio - a very significant and encouraging sign for the real estate market in Baldwin County.
Click here to access the full report.
In yet another sign that the South Baldwin County real estate market continues to pick up steam, the city of Foley's single-family housing market saw continued growth through September of 2015.
That market includes homes in Foley, Summerdale, Silverhill, Robertsdale, Elberta, Bon Secour, Magnolia Springs and Lillian.
Through the first nine months of 2015, the results are as follows:
Sales: 842 homes were sold during the first nine months of the year, up from 713 during the same period last year. An increase of 18 percent.
Average Medium Sales Price: The average medium sale price of homes rose from $150,515 in 2014 to $164,362 so far in 2015. A nine percent increase.
Medium Price: The medium price also rose year-over-year from $136,800 in 2014 to $146,950 this year. An increase of seven percent.
Average price per square foot: The average per-square-foot sale price rose ten percent from $80 in 2014 to $88 in 2015.
Under Contract: By the end of September, 125 homes were under contract, up just a bit from 124 in 2014.
Click below to view current single family home listings in the Foley market. Don't wait too long as many homes are moving quickly!
According to the Baldwin County Association of REALTORS MLS, Baldwin County condo sales, which include condos along the Gulf Coast, totaled 162 units in April. Sales improved 23.7 percent from the same period a year earlier. Year-to-date sales through April are 14.5 percent above 2014.
April sales were 32 units above the Center's monthly forecast. ACRE's year-to-date sales forecast through April projected 414 closed transactions while the actual sales were 521 units.
Baldwin County condo inventory totaled 1,032 units, a decrease of 5.9 percent from April 2014. The inventory increased by 31 units or 3.1 percent from the prior month. This direction is consistent with historical data indicating that April inventory on average ('10-'14) increases from the month of March by .6%. Condo inventory during the month of April peaked in 2006 at 3,555 units. The inventory is now down 70.9 percent from the peak. In April, the months of condo supply stood at 6.4 months, a decrease of 23.9 percent from 8.4 months last April and a far cry from April 2006 when it was 82.9 months of supply.
Condo sales increased 8.0 percent from last month. This direction is consistent with seasonal buying patterns and historical data trends that reflect April condo sales on average ('10-'14) increase from the month of March by 18.3 percent.
The Baldwin County condo median sales price in April was $268,500, a slip of 10.5 percent from last April. The median sales price was also 1.6 percent below the prior month. This direction contrast with historic data trends ('10-'14) that reflect the April median condo sales price on average increase from the month of March by 6.8 percent. The median condo sales price is 30.3 percent above the month of April bottom of $206,000 established in 2010.
Report provided by Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE)
