The Huntsville Area Association of Realtors has released its Q2 report for the year of 2022. This report illustrates continuing trends in the price, inventory, and average sale time of residential real estate properties in Madison County.

The overall inventory of homes for sale rose 125% in Q2 2022, with the lion’s share of those properties listing at the $300K-$350K price range. Properties at the range of $300K and below saw a decrease in both sales and listings.

Half of all properties listed ended up selling above the listed sale price, averaging 5.2% over list prices. The median price actually hit $340,701, setting a record high for the Huntsville area.

As previously reported, the sharp rise of the consumer inflation rate made a substantial impact on the Q2 statistics, more than doubling since the same quarter last year. This accompanied an increase in the national 30-year mortgage rate, up to 5.3% from 3.10% the previous year.

The high demand is being driven by the continued growth of the workforce in Madison County, which grew 2.9% over the last year, to reach 197,773.

The high demand, rising prices, and falling inventory of sub-$300K housing units, combined with the rising interest rates, make for a hot seller’s market, but puts young professionals, looking to enter the market with a less-expensive starter home, into something of a quandary. More people will be vying for a smaller number of less expensive homes.

This issue has not gone unnoticed, prompting efforts to establish more affordable housing options for Huntsville residents. While the Huntsville Planning Commission rejected the zoning request made by Pioneer Communities to build manufactured housing in North Huntsville in late June, the company is now retooling its plans, suggesting that it could build roughly 200 single-family homes on the property.

As reported by the Huntsville Business Journal, the “Mill Creek Choice Neighborhoods Plan” – which will replace the radon-contaminated buildings of the Butler Terrace Addition, just off of Lowe Mill – aims to build a “mix of market-rate, HHA (Huntsville Housing Authority), Workforce, and Senior Housing.”

These potential affordable housing plans are still a good long ways away from being realized. In the meantime, the Huntsville Business Journal will continue to update its readers with the latest in local, state, and national real estate news.