What a difference a year makes. Or, for that matter, just a month.

The average sales price of a house in the Huntsville area last month set a record of $327,266 while the median sales price was $288,750, also a record. This is according to the latest report from the Alabama Center for Real Estate.

The average price is more than 2% higher than May and 15% higher than the average price of $284,489 in June 2020. Just five years ago, the average selling price of a home was $208,146.

“Historical data indicates that June average sales prices on average (2016-21) increased by 0.7% from May,” the report said. “(June’s) average price increased 2.4% from the prior month.” The median price showed a 3% increase from May while the average from 2016-21 was 2.4%.

Not only are prices going up, the number of homes sold continues to climb.

The report said 956 homes were sold last month, compared to 747 in June and 847 in June 2020. Of the homes, 652 were existing single-family units and 279 were new construction; 25 were condos.

“Historical data indicates that June residential sales on average (2016-20) increase from May by 20.8%,” the report said. “(June’s) sales increased 28% from the prior month.”

The number of houses available for sale was up over May, with 470 listed last month and 460 listed in May. However, it is a steep decline from a year ago when some 926 houses were listed. Of the houses available, 266 were existing single-family homes; 197 new construction; and seven condos.

““Historical data indicates that June inventory on average (2016-21) decreased 11.7% from May,” ACRE said. “The current month’s inventory increased 2.2% from last month’s total of 460 homes.”

The houses also weren’t on the market that long, either. While houses were on the market for 13 days in June, it was a four-day increase over May. But, it was nearly two weeks less than June 2020 when the average home for sale was on the market for 26 days.

And ACRE doesn’t foresee that trend ending any time soon.

“The 5-year (days on the market) average (2016-21) for the month of June is 57 days, which is 44 days below current results,” the report said. “Average DOM is anticipated to remain within the current range (0 – 50 days) for the
foreseeable future.”