Huntsville Sees Steady Growth in Home Sales With a Strong Sellers Market
Realtors in Huntsville, Alabama, are seeing a strong sellers market as we head into the summer months. According to reports from the Alabama Association of Realtors, home sales across the state have seen a steady rise of nearly four percent as we entered April.
The growth in the city’s population is compelling builders to speed up the construction of townhomes, apartments, and condos to accommodate this change. This shift is a promising sign of the strong property market in the city.
High Demand Calls for More Affordability
Lore Hislop, the President of the Huntsville Area Association of Realtors, has stated that Huntsville is a more affordable place to live compared to many cities across the United States. This affordability is one of the leading reasons for Huntsville being named the second most affordable place to live in the United States by U.S News & World Report’s 2024-25 ranking.
”It’s all supply and demand, right. That’s the way the market moves with supply and demand. So, if supply goes up, prices might come down a little bit. As supply goes down, prices tend to go up a little bit. So, it will continue to balance out every month. So, you just have to do what’s best for your situation,” stated Hislop.
Homes Sales Continue to Rise in Summer
Local realtor, Rebecca Lowery, reports that approximately half of her clients are from out of state. She believes this is due to a combination of factors, primarily the cost-effective nature of the city, compared to larger ones, and the job growth seen in Huntsville over the past few years. With interest rates down from a year ago, it indeed is an opportune time to sell property in the city.
Lowery has noted that the condition and location of a home can drastically determine what the seller can expect to receive from the sale of their property. Homes for sale in Madison County have typically stayed on the market for about six weeks, with summer proving to be a potent time for sales.
Advice for Buyers and Sellers
Lowery advises potential buyers to work with a local lender to get pre-approved, which can give them a realistic idea of what they can afford. Misconceptions around down payments often deter first-time homebuyers, and Lowery states that yielding to such notions can be a mistake.
“Some people don’t understand about the affordability that they maybe just needed three and a half percent down payment instead of a 20. Because a lot of first-time homebuyers think that they must have more money down, and maybe just the process of buying a home. But there’s always variables every year. And I think this year, we have an election coming up. Inflation is higher, interest rates are a little bit higher, but they were at our record low. So, I don’t know that they would ever go back down to that,” says Lowrey.
Growth Not Limited to Huntsville
The boom is not exclusive to Huntsville– areas such as Limestone County, Athens, and other parts of Madison County are also witnessing a similar upsurge in population. The average cost for purchasing a home in Huntsville, currently hovering around $340,000, showcases the affordability of the market that continues to draw people to the state.
These recent developments offer a positive outlook for both realtors and potential homeowners, demonstrating that Huntsville’s growth, low cost of living, and robust job market continue to drive the real estate market’s upward trajectory.
