Affordability gives city, state an edge as U.S. market lags

Despite reports of a deflating nationwide housing market, Huntsville and most of Alabama are ticking right along, according to a University of Alabama study.

After declining in July, the Alabama housing market rose 8.2 percent in August, to 5,790 sales from 5,350, the Alabama Real Estate Research and Education Center reported this week. Sales of existing homes were still lower than the state's all-time high of 6,032, said Leonard Zumpano, the center's director.

Home sales in Huntsville rose in August, to 1,057, up from 983 in July and 862 in August 2005. Average days on the market for homes sold in August was 89, down from 95 days in July and 102 in August 2005.

Statewide, home sales for the first eight months of the year slightly exceeded sales for the same period last year, 40,979 compared with 40,307. The average selling price for January-August rose $9,600, to $155,480.

In Huntsville, year-to-date sales are 7,318, an 18 percent increase over the same period last year. Huntsville's average selling price for January-through August was $159,118, up from $149,459.

Nationwide, the housing market did not look so positive in August. Existing home sales fell for the fifth consecutive month and are down 12.6 percent for the year, Zumpano said. The average selling price also fell in August, to $225,000 from $229,000.

Alabama - Huntsville in particular - is bucking that trend, Zumpano said.

Huntsville "really has an edge on affordability," he said. "That's sustaining your market."

Saturday, October 07, 2006
By GINA HANNAH
Times Business Writer gina.hannah@htimes.com