Alabama housing market

[AlabamaGuy2007]

Here's the article from the Huntsville Times:

Housing market fairing well

I'm scared that this isn't going to last. I hope it does, but, you can never tell.

[EvanK]

I know where I live, in Southside, just outside Gadsden, our population ballooned from about 1,500 to nearly 10,000 in a little less than a decade. The problem is, it was "white flight" from Gadsden, so while the city itself is hemmoraging residents, some of the surrounding suburbs are doing very well.

120 housing permits were issued out here just in the first and second quarters of this year. In a big city, that is nothing. In a city this small, that is impressive. Everyone is expecting that to continue, at least for the foreseeable future. Still a lot of land out here.

The housing market in Etowah County is still pretty strong overall, with the exception of the City of Gadsden itself, which is pretty much landlocked and has no where to grow to.

Things still seem to be going gangbusters down in Birmingham also, at least in the over the mountain suburbs, and also north and northeast of town. I have a friend down in Birmingham that handles real estate properties in Northern Shelby county, and he is rolling in money. Houses are selling faster than he can list them. How long that will last though, is anyones guess. For now though, it's still very hot down there, despite national forecasts of a bubble bust. There are still pockets of areas that are doing very well, many of them right here in old Alabamy.

The areas around Anniston are also doing well, and growing very steadily.

[DruidCity]

Yeah, I expect housing prices to continue to grow in Alabama.

Property is still a lot cheaper than a lot of states, and property taxes are low.

For its income level, Huntsville compares especially well to many national cities for affordability.

I'm pleased with housing growth in the Tuscaloosa area, but especially positive about the fact

that some of the growth is occurring in parts of town that had been in decline.

The current mayor is very active in his efforts to improve the livability of the city proper, and

his hard work is paying off for the city.

[kayman]

To be honest, housing growth in most of Central and North Alabama will continue.

[rnc]

I think Huntsville will continue going up for the forseable future. The housing is simply very cheap for the income levels. People moving in from DC and other more expensive areas of the country for BRAC will keep the demand high and price increasing.

[Alabadrock]

In today's Decatur Daily, there was an article that told about the U.S. Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's rankings of 287 metro areas in the country that had at or more than 15,000 transactions in the past decade that dealt with housing. Of those 287 metro areas, 6 were in Alabama. Here are the national and state rankings.

Decatur Metropolitan Area

Counties: Morgan, Lawrence

National Rank: 22nd

State Rank: 1st

Percent Cost Increase: 7.2%

Huntsville Metropolitan Area

Counties: Madison, Limestone

National Rank: 31st

State Rank: 2nd

Percent Cost Increase: 6.6%

Columbus-Phenix City GA, AL Metropolitan Area

National Rank: 40th

State Rank: 3rd

Percent Cost Increase: 6.2%

Mobile Metropolitan Area

Counties: Mobile

National Rank: 50th

State Rank: 4th

Percent Cost Increase: 5.8%

Montomery Metropolitan Area

National Rank: 54th

State Rank: 5th

Percent Cost Increase: 5.7%

Tuscaloosa Metropolitan Area

National Rank: 93rd

State Rank: 6th

Percent Cost Increase: 3.8%

Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area

National Rank: 128th

State Rank: 7th

Percent Cost Increase: 3%

Metro areas that were not ranked because they had fewer than 15,000 transactions in the past decade were:

Auburn-Opelika 6%

Dothan 10.3%

Florence-Muscle Shoals 4.9%

Gadsden 5.1%

Anniston-Oxford 5.9%

So, as far as overall, Dothan had the highest increase. Decatur had the second hightest, but, because of that 15,000 rule, Decatur was first.

Article: Alabama housing cost increases

[Alabadrock]

Foreclosures in Alabama are down 20 percent!!

http://www.al.com/business/birminghamnews/....xml&coll=2