The buyers market enjoyed by house hunters at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when mortgage interest rates fell to record lows, is no longer.

The numbers now favor sellers and will continue to do so in the near future with interest rates rising at a rapid pace. Rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage, which dipped to a record low of 2.75 percent in 2021, is now in the neighborhood of 5.0 percent.

However, that figure is still below the 8.0 percent home buyers were paying at the start of the millennium, and the demand for housing in Huntsville remains high as the population soars.

Huntsville has quickly become the largest city in the state.

“Right now we’re seeing the interest rates rise,’’ Sara Lauren Kattos of Van Valkenburgh and Wilkinson Properties. “Economists are expecting that will slow some, but it’s still going light years faster than than most markets.’’

The surge of people moving into the Rocket City and Tennessee Valley seeking homes is outpacing the availability of houses in the area, a good albeit hectic problem to have for local and area realtors.

“I did a survey for a speaking engagement and we have less than a month of inventory right now in Madison County,’’ Kattos said. “There’s less than a month’s worth on the market right now.’’

Demand is such that houses are reportedly selling over their listed price. The local median sale price two years ago was $250,000 and has now eclipsed $330,000.

“It’s considerably different,’’ Kattos said. “That’s got some people wondering what’s going to happen in the future and there’s concern about affordability. But, there’s still a high demand.’’

The city’s estimated population is around 220,000 with close to 500,000 residents in the Huntsville Metro Area, according to roofstock.com which estimates that number to reach nearly 530,000 by 2030.

Roofstock.com also reported that the housing market shortage is Huntsville’s lowest in 20 years and blames the low supply inventory for a 12 percent increase in rental rates. The site also credited that increase as one reason a “major financial publication ranks Huntsville among the top seven smaller towns worth your investment dollars.’’

Kattos said global supply chain problems helped create the shortage.

“I know that a lot of builders have had issues getting what they need to be able to keep the construction process going in a timely way so that they can meet inspections and move to the next level,’’ she said. “An economist came and spoke to the Huntsville-Madison County Builders Association back in November, and his estimation was it was going to be about five years before we actually caught up with demand as far as new construction goes. It’s one of the reasons so many apartment buildings have been built, because in one building you can house that many more people.’’

Economist Lawrence Yun of the National Association of Realtors told realtors to expect interest rate hikes but they wouldn’t rise “too terribly much,’’ Kattos said.

Whatever the rates ascend to likely won’t slow the local housing market. Not even a pandemic could do that.

“We were busy in 2021,’’ Kattos said. “It was one of the best years ever as far as sales go for our company, and 2020 was an extraordinarily busy year as well. But 2021 was busier and part of that was that the interest rates were so low. Some say they were artificially low just to kind of keep the economy going in an unprecedented time.

“It was very busy and I know closing attorneys were very busy and mortgage companies were doing refinances. If the rates got much lower the banks would have been paying people to take their money, which is not not a sustainable process.’’

Feature image provided by Forbes.com.