How are Riverwoods home sales?
The Riverwoods subdivision is located in north Shelby county in Helena, Alabama. The subdivision is built along the Cahaba River which is the longest free-flowing river in Alabama. The neighborhood offers a pool, clubhouse and walking trails. The development began around 2002 and is a popular location for home buyers in the Helena, Alabama area.
I’ve performed numerous appraisal assignments in the Riverwoods subdivision over the years and thought I would share some market data that I came up with during a recent job I was working on.
The first graph I have included shows all sales activity from 2002 to present. As you might expect, sales were strong from the beginning, however at about the time of the national real estate crisis prices started to decline until 2013 when they started increasing until present.
From data supplied by the Birmingham MLS the following statistics reflect sales activity from September of 2015 to September of 2016:
Median Sales Price
The median sale price of all homes sold during this 12 month period was $386,800.
Median Price Per Square Foot
The median price per square foot of all homes sold from September of 2015 through September of 2016 was $131.00.
Average Days on Market
On the average it took approximately 93 days, or just over 3 months, to sell a home in the Riverwoods neighborhood.
Sale Price to List Price Ratio
99%- This means that the final sale price was approximately 99% of the final list price before going under contract.
Number of Sales in Past 12 Months
There were approximately 35 homes that sold over the past 12 months.
Riverwoods Homes For Sale Inventory Levels
At the time of this writing there were approximately 11 active listings, ranging in price from $269,000 to $529,900. Pending and contingent listings consist of 8 homes ranging in price from $274,900 to $474,900
Comments
As I noted previously the Riverwoods neighborhood is a popular area in Helena and the above statistics reflect all sales. Certain price ranges may reflect different numbers.
As an example, as the size of the home increases the price per square typically goes down, if all else is equal, so the average price per square foot for a certain price range home may vary. There are a wide range of variables in this area with some homes being on the Cahaba River or larger lots and others being on garden home size lots.
Price levels in Riverwoods started out strong when the neighborhood began, however they started to decline around 2008 when the national real estate market crashed. Prices started to change direction in 2013 when they began to increase.
Every year since 2013 the median price per year has been at a higher level year after year. This year is showing less because the whole year has not been included. This positive direction in price levels is expected to continue barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Question
If you have any questions about sales in the Riverwoods subdivision or you need a pre-listing appraisal feel free to get incontact with me.
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That’s all well and good data, but something else is needed to really understand the external forces which may be driving the market. Toss in an additional overlay line which tracks the lending rate, and you’ll be golden. Lower rates result in more purchasing power. It’s important to know if external factors other than the rate are driving the market. That allows the appraiser to understand even more about tracking the market and also dealing with area to area considerations. The rate being sort of like the baseline or most common denominator which drives the market. If that market is tracking with the rate, other more complex analysis factors regarding external influence would be limited. Thanks Tom, good reads.
Thanks for the suggestion JHall. My graphs and charts I include on my blog are basic information for buyers interested in these neighborhoods. I provide more in depth analysis for buyers needing this type of information.
Oh yeah. Good one. Much of that is accessible by lenders and ancillary parties these days. I try to bring unique value through manually focused analysis in a way which is thoughtful and not readily available through data dissemination tools. The human factor continues to be the elusive point of mass data analysis. Price is relative to the rate.
Thank you for the Riverwood real estate market update. It is interesting to see that 2016 prices are not up over 2015 yet. Maybe they will by the end of the year once all of the sales are recorded or maybe there is a “softening” going on. It would be interesting to see the trends in inventory to see if an increase is pushing DOM up and holding prices down in Riverwood.
Yes, Gary, I believe it is because all of the sales for 2016 have not been recorded yet. I’ll have to update the numbers after year end. Thanks for your thoughts.
Nice job Tom. I always like seeing trends in your local neighborhoods. The Birmingham market is lucky to have you.
Thanks Ryan!