THE HUNTSVILLE TIMES REPORTS

Home sales soar last month

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

By Gina Hannah
Times Business Writer gina.hannah@htimes.com

Madison County’s figure of 526 is a November record Home sales in Madison County in November set an all-time record for the month, as homebuyers took advantage of a federal tax credit. Sales for the month increased 89 percent over the same month last year and were 19 percent higher than October’s sales, the Huntsville Area Association of Realtors reported Monday.

During November, 526 homes were sold, compared with 442 in October and 278 in November 2008.
“Sales for the month of November were unprecedented. We continue to see the housing market in Huntsville-Madison County improve markedly and are experiencing housing trends here that are rare and nonexistent in most of the country,” said Oscar Gonzales, the association’s CEO.

“It is exciting to see such a robust bounce-back, and it is important to continue to monitor the overall economy for any potential bumps in the road.”
Gonzales said he believes that the federal tax credit for homebuyers “is playing a huge role” in the increase in sales.

“I think people want to take advantage of it by the end of the year, and there’s always the conversation about interest rates rising,” he said.
“We did better in October and November than we did in September,” said John Morley of Morley Real Estate Group. “We’ve seen more sales activity and lower prices. (Buyers) are still looking for a deal.
“A lot of buyers coming here have just gotten the heck beat out of them with houses they’ve sold” in other states.

November’s median selling price - the figure at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less - dropped 3.45 percent from November 2008 but rose by 6.4 percent from October. Nearly 91 percent of the homes sold - 477 homes total - in November were priced under $300,000.
“The smaller homes are selling better,” said Tommy Adams, owner and broker of Rise Real Estate. “They’re the ones, for the most part, that are getting the tax credit. The over-$300,000 market is still slow.”
Houses that were sold last month had been on the market an average of 88 days, compared with 91 days in October and 83 days in November 2008.

While November’s sales figure showed a large increase over 2008, it’s still well under the highest month on record locally: In March 2000, 1,870 homes were sold, according to association records. Gonzales said the high number was likely due to a large number of people moving to the Huntsville area with Army aviation job transfers.

Cindy Holt, a Realtor for ERA Ben Porter, said she believes that the extension of the federal tax credit’s deadline to June, and its expansion to include repeat buyers, will help sales continue to improve into next year. “It’s spurred more conversations for people who may consider” buying, she said.

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