Lee County area residential sales in October increase 3% from prior year; YTD sales up 8%
Published: Friday, December 05, 2014, 7:45 AM Updated: Friday, December 05, 2014, 7:51 AM
Click here to view or print the entire October report compliments of the ACRE Corporate Cabinet.
Monthly Sales: Lee County residential sales totaled 92 units in October, an improvement in sales growth of 3.4 percent from the same period a year earlier. October sales were 4 units above our monthly forecast. The year-to-date sales forecast through October projected 1,178 closed transactions while actual closings were 1,208 units representing a favorably cumulative variance of 2.5 percent.
View full sizeLee County residential sales rise 3% in October from last year. Housing Inventory has been reduced by 41% from the October 2010 peak. Infograph courtesy of ACRE. All rights reserved.
Supply: The Lee County housing inventory in October was 808 units, a decrease of 2.8 percent from October 2013 and 40.9 percent from the month of October inventory peak in 2010 (1,367 units).
October inventory in Lee County did increase by .7 percent from the prior month. This direction is consistent with historical data indicating that October inventory on average ('09-'13) increases from the month of September by 8.1 percent.
The inventory-to-sales ratio in October was 8.8 months of housing supply. Restated, at the October sales pace, it would take 8.8 months to absorb the current inventory for sale. The market equilibrium (balance between supply and demand) is considered to be approximately 7.5 months during the month of October so Lee County is a market where buyer and seller currently enjoy close to equal bargaining power.
Demand: As anticipated, residential sales decreased by 14.0 percent from the prior month. This direction is consistent with seasonal historical data indicating that October sales on average ('09-'13) decreases from the month of September by 9.8 percent.
Existing single family home sales account for 54 percent (down from 66% in Oct'13) of total sales while 32 percent (up from 25% in Oct'13) were new home sales and 14 percent (up from 9% in Oct'13) were condo buyers.
Pricing: The Lee County median sales price in October was $190,000, a 8.5 percent increase from last October. The October median sales price also rose 5.6 percent compared to the prior month. Historical data ('09-'13) indicates that the October median sales price traditionally decreases from the month of September by 1.4 percent so the break of this recent trend may signal encouraging news for the market (time will tell). Pricing can fluctuate from month-to-month as the sample size of data (closed transactions) is subject to seasonal buying patterns so a broader lens as to pricing trends is appropriate and we recommend contacting a local real estate professional for additional market pricing information.
Industry Perspective: "From a housing perspective, we anticipate that overall home sales will be weaker in 2014 than in 2013. For 2015, we expect only a moderate pickup in total home sales but enough to post the best performance since 2007," said Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan. "We lowered our expectation for housing starts just slightly to 1 million units for 2014, but our view of mortgage originations has not changed... For 2015, we are cautiously optimistic that ongoing labor market improvements, low mortgage rates, rising inventories, and some easing of lending standards will boost home sales by roughly 5.0 percent. However, we still believe housing will continue along its upward grind rather than have the breakout year some are expecting." For full report, go HERE.
See how Lee County compares to other Alabama real estate markets.
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