The Highland Lakes subdivision in Shelby County, Alabama is not unlike other neighborhoods around Birmingham. It has also been effected by the slowdown in the real estate market and the downward trend in property values. Over the past 5 years the total number of sales have decreased as well as the number of home sales in the upper price ranges. If you take a look at the chart below you will see what I mean.
Do you see the downward trend in the median sales prices of homes from 2007 to 2012? A look at the median sales price for each of the years shows that in 2007 the median price was approximately $433,000 and each year it has decreased until the last year which was approximately $379,000. This is a decrease of $54,000 in the median price. This supports a previous post of mine analyzing the trend in Shelby County property values over $500,000. You can read that here. Several factors contribute to this decline, including the influence of foreclosures and the decrease in the number of buyers. Buyer confidence has been diminished due in part to the high unemployment rate. People have either lost their job and are unable to buy, or they fear that they may lose their job. I believe when the unemployment rate decreases this will help home sales.
The Birmingham MLS reports that there were 56 sales in the past 12 months. At the current time there are approximately 63 homes for sale in Highland Lakes. This includes existing homes as well as homes under construction. This translates into approximately 31 months of inventory. This seems excessive, however it appears to be caused by slow sales last month (March). The average months of inventory last year was around 10 months. One good thing is that of the 63 homes for sale only 6 are foreclosure listings. This is not considered excessive and their influence should be minimal. Do you live in Highland Lakes or a similar area that has experienced declines in the number of sales and/or prices? Do you see things turning around? Leave me a comment below, I would like to hear from you.
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The market above 1,000,000 looks like it has really struggled in recent time.
It has and this has resulted in a decline in median prices over the years.