Residential sales report from the Alabama Center for Real Estate on Lake Martin for July 2013. Sales in July rose 51.7 percent from the same period in 2012. Year-to-date through July, closed transactions are up 16.6 percent.
Residential Supply
The Lake Martin area housing inventory in July was 606 units, a decrease of 2.7 percent from July 2012 and 25.3 percent below the month of July’s peak in 2008 (811 units). July inventory decreased by 4.4 percent from the prior month. Historical data indicates that July inventory on average (’08-’12) traditionally decreases from the month of June by 2.5 percent. There was 13.8 months of housing supply (6-7 months considered equilibrium) in July 2013 versus 21.5 months of supply in July 2012. This represents a significant decrease of 35.9 percent. Also, this is the best reading for July since 2006 (10 months). Still, this is an area where more reduction in supply would be welcome news.
Residential Demand
July residential sales slipped 18.5% from the prior month. This movement is consistent with seasonal trends and historical data indicating that July sales, on average (’08-’12), typically decrease by 8.7% from the month of June.
Interest rates
“Residential consumers have taken the interest-rate rise in stride,” says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist. Also, “Expectations for continued improvement in housing persist, and sentiment toward the current buying and selling environment is back on track from its dip last month. In conclusion, These results are consistent with our own analysis of previous housing cycles, which finds that interest rates and home prices (ACRE: note that he did not say sales volume) are not strongly correlated.”
Residential Buyers and Sellers
If you would like to search Lake Martin Real Estate for sale visit the Property Search page. If you are thinking of selling contact Miller Dark, local Lake Martin Realtor.
Miller Dark is an Associate Broker with RealtySouth and a member of the Lake Martin Area Association of Realtors.
