Rent control debate heats up: Why economists warn it could worsen housing crisis

It’s an election year, so there’s a lot of ideas and promises floating around to garner votes and win an election.  This election cycle includes the highly refuted idea of rent control. On one hand, if you’re a renter, rent (and the price of everything) is out of control.  Back before the Fed got involved […]

Alabama real estate market sees cooling trend as mortgage rates drop, report shows

The Alabama Association of Realtors has released their Alabama Economic and Real eState Report for the month of September 2024.  The report summarizes the state of the Alabama real estate market -the average of the entire state, not merely our own Huntsville/Madison County market – as ‘cooling, but robust.’  “As the traditional summer home-buying season […]

Capstone Building Corp completes $56.8M project in Huntsville

Capstone Building Corp., a Birmingham-based general contractor, has announced the successful completion of Arcadia, a $56.8 million luxury apartment development in Huntsville, Alabama. Developed in partnership with Bobo Family Group and Boaz Ventures, Arcadia offers 250 residential units across 432,070 square feet in Huntsville’s Cummings Research Park, the second-largest research park in the U.S. Arcadia […]

Coldwell Banker Commercial McLain Real Estate celebrates 50 years in Huntsville market

Coldwell Banker Commercial McLain Real Estate (CBCMRE) is marking its 50th year of continuous operation in Huntsville’s commercial real estate market. The company is also celebrating 40 years of service by D. Scott McLain, who has played a key role in the firm’s growth since joining in 1984. Founded in 1974 by Gene McLain, CBCMRE […]

Real estate update: Federal Reserve cuts interest rates

In a long-awaited move, the Federal Reserve announced that it has cut the federal funds rate by fifty basis points. The new federal funds rate, which acts as a benchmark for borrowing rates across the economy, is now reduced to 4.8%, the lowest rate since March of 2023. This is the first rate cut since […]

Real Estate market adjusts in anticipation of Fed Reserve cuts 

Interest rates remained flat during the first week of September, slowing down a multi-week decrease that experts attribute to the market preparing for the much-anticipated Federal Reserve cuts expected to be announced at the Fed’s next meeting, on September 18.  “I do believe in anticipation of this cut, most of the reduction has been built […]

How the $418 million NAR settlement will change Real Estate transactions in the Tennessee Valley

As part of the proposed $418M settlement to the NAR lawsuit, there’s going to be a few changes for both buyers and sellers in the TN Valley.  The first big change is that buyer agreements are now required before viewing a home. It’s always been a requirement to go over a RECAD disclosure (even though […]

Real Estate Update: Market primed as interest rates begin to drop

Real estate markets across the United States have begun responding to lowering interest rates.  In the first week of August, the average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped to 6.73%. As a result, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications jumped 6.9% over that week, while refinance applications rose 16% over that […]

Navigating housing solutions: Huntsville considers Accessory Dwelling Units amid surplus concerns

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), have been a hot topic to help solve the national housing supply crisis of approximately 6 million homes. Housing supply is not easily fixed as it would likely take at least a decade to bridge the gap, assuming we were building at the right pace, which we are not. So with […]

Local, national markets steady as Federal Reserve considers cuts

Reports from the U.S. Department of Commerce showed a year-over-year decline in the rate of core inflation over the month of June, down to 2.5% from 2.6% the previous year.  This marks the third consecutive month of year-over-year declining rates of inflation, the first signs that the inflation crisis, which has been at the heart […]