November Report Shows Effects of Market Squeeze

The Huntsville Area Association of Realtors (HAAR) has released its report on the state of the region’s real estate market for the month of November. 

The immediate takeaway is that the effects of the interest shock are continuing to work their way through the market. While the inventory of both single-family units and townhouse/condos have both increased – with a 102.3 percent increase for the former, and a 104.2 increase for the latter, respectively – the cost of financing the purchase of a home has put off many buyers. 

Mortgage prices are twice as high as they were in November of last year, and at that rate, not only are prospective buyers holding off and waiting for the rates to drop, but potential sellers, many of whom have a single home in which they live, are staying put, to keep from having to buy a new home themselves. 

This tracks with national trends, where Realtor.com reports the average homeowner in the United States paying 77% more on their monthly mortgage than the same month the previous year. 

All of this has resulted in new listings declining by 13.2% for single-family homes, while condos saw a more modest decline of 4.4%. Pending sales of single-family homes slipped 33%, but interestingly, condominiums saw a modest increase of 3.1%.

Median prices continued to rise, with a 10.7% increase for single-family units, up to $339,000. This remains below the $416,000 national median price, as reported by Realtor.com, but the national trend since June has been a slight decrease in median price, while the inherent growth of Huntsville specifically has kept the price rising, albeit at a much slower rate than previously. 

As a result, the Housing Affordability Index for the Huntsville area has remained low. For those who may not know, the Housing Affordability Index measures the average income in an area against the expense to qualify for the median price of a home in that same area. So, an index rating of 100 means that the average income covers 100% of the expense of financing a home, while a rating of 50 means that that same income would only cover half. 

2022 saw a dramatic reduction in the Housing Affordability Index, and November is no exception. It stands at 72 for single-family homes, down from 114 in November the previous year, and from 139 in November of 2020. 

If there is an upside, it is that a slow winter will likely throttle inflation, checking its uncontrolled rise over the long term. Fortunately, Huntsville is in a better position than most other metropoles to weather the sluggish days of winter.