A statewide market statistics report referred to as the Alabama Economic and Real Estate Report was announced Monday by the Alabama Association of REALTORS. The announcement came with the release of two issues, the 2022 Annual Report and the December 2022 Monthly Report.
Jeremy Walker, CEO of the Alabama Association of REALTORS, discussed the current real estate market within the state.
“The fundamentals of Alabama’s real estate market remained strong in 2022 despite increasing challenges posed by interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, increased inflation, and economic uncertainty. The real estate market has normalized to pre pandemic levels last seen in 2019,” said Walker.
“Alabama’s economy and real estate market have been resilient and remain well positioned to capitalize on increasing job growth, low unemployment, and an influx of people moving to our state in search of economic opportunity and a higher quality of life.”
Some of the main points from the 2022 Annual Report include increased median and average sales prices, with decreased volume sold.
Alabama had 107,592 home sales in 2022 which was a 17% drop year over year from 2021. Overall sales continue to normalize to pre pandemic numbers. The 2022 Annual Home Sales remain higher than 2019’s pre pandemic home sales of 106,717 units.
Median sales prices increased by $15,737 reaching $228,434 in 2022. This represents a 7.4% increase year over year from 2021. The 2022 median sales price is 35.6% higher than 2019’s pre pandemic median sales price of $168,450.
Average sales prices increased by .3% reaching $255,181 in 2022 continuing a trend in increasing annual average sales prices the last five years. The 2022 average sales prices is $50,149 higher than 2019’s pre pandemic average sales price of 205,032.
The total sold volume was $27.5 billion in 2022. This is a $5.5 billion decrease (16.7%) from 2021. The 2022 total sold volume remains $5.6 billion (25.6%) higher than 2019’s pre pandemic total sold volume of $21.9 billion.
Foreclosure rates have increased compared to 2021 but remain below the national averages with 4,999 properties experiencing foreclosure in 2022 (.22% of all housing units) compared to .23% of all units nationally. Foreclosure rates nationwide and in Alabama remain below 2019’s pre pandemic foreclosure rates.
The main highlights from the December report varied slightly from that of the annual report.
Alabama had 7,984 home sales in December, a decrease of 2,237 units (21.9%) compared to December 2021 and a decrease of 868 units (10%) compared to November 2022.
Median sales prices increased by $4,871 (2.2%) reaching $223,083 compared to December 2021 and decreased by $6,916 (3%) compared to November 2022.
Average sales prices decreased by $15,128 (5.6%) compared to December 2021 and increase by 6,598 (2.7%) compared to November 2022.
The total sold volume was $2.0 billion, a decrease of $.7 billion (25.9%) compared to December 2021 and a decrease of $.2 billion (9%) compared to November 2022.
The full annual report and the full December report are available online. Each month a new report will be released by the Alabama Association of REALTORS.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
