Birmingham Area MLS* Monthly Observations for May 2012
Sales in May improved 11% to $215,887,628 from April’s $194,180,473, up 13% from last May’s $190,671,097. The 12 month moving average line for total dollar sales continues to be tilted upward nicely.
Unit sales were up 2% to 1,232 in May from 1,207 in April, an increase of 25. This is up 11% from May 2011 at 1,110. This is 9% unfavorable to our projection of 1,395 sales expected for May and 12% unfavorable year to date. The complete monthly projections from ABRE (a joint project between ACRE and Brander Real Estate) can be found here http://goo.gl/WFHrO along with the worksheets that show the methodology. New sales improved 16% to 130 homes this month from 112 in April, an increase of 18 units. Used sales improved 0.6% to 1,102 homes in May from 1,095 last month, an increase of 7 (Sect E p.3).
This month total inventory is 28% lower at 10,212 vs. 13,035 last year and 10,908 last month. The drop in the current month is caused by month-end expirations which should come back on the market shortly. Still, there is less of a seasonal increase in listings than last year. Active New listings decreased to 757 in May from 1,088 in April, a decline of 331 units (Sect E p.3). Housing permits went down for Jefferson county to 107 for April up from 120 for March. (see website for details).
Absorption rate for New and Used homes is improving. New homes are at 6 months supply this month with a reduced sales pace, and better than last year at this time at 9 months (Sect E p.3). New home supply seems to be in a “normal” state. Under $100,000 New homes are at 11 months supply and improving. The New homes in the $100,000-$400,000 price range have normal inventory levels in the 6-7 month range. (Sect C p.1 and Sect E p.3.)
Absorption for Used homes in May shows 10 months, four months better than 14 months last year. Used Active listings at 9,455 are lower than the 11,906 last year (Sect E p.3), (Sect E p.3).
Birmingham area Average Days on Market for New houses was 215 compared to last month at 233 . The Used homes DOM was 149 in May, compared with 136 last month (Sect A p.18). NOTE: DOM for Used Homes indicates that well priced homes are moving in less than 6 months. If the home is not selling, reduce the price, particularly since we are in the most active sales season of the year.
Average sales price for Sold New homes increased to $247,801 from $225,573 last month (Sect A p2). Average sales prices for Sold Used homes increased to $166,673 from $154,261 last month (Sect A p2). The twelve month moving average price line for Used Homes has been quite steady since mid 2009. The 12 month moving average line for New home prices has been heading up quite nicely since the beginning of the year. Average Home prices, new and used, have stabilized (Sect A p2). The price of any specific home still remains under pressure.
TWB 6/9/12
Market Trends: Alabama Real Estate 