What’s Up With The West Homewood Real Estate Market?

A Look At Home Sales In West Homewood

Homewood has always been one of the most popular suburbs within the Birmingham, AL real estate market. Historically the Edgewood, Mayfair, and Hollywood areas have been the top sellers, however, over the past several years the popularity of the West Homewood area has increased.

As you might expect the West Homewood area is west of Greensprings Highway, north of Lakeshore Parkway, and south and east of Oxmoor Road. While homes in this part of Homewood have always sold well there seems to have been a revitalization of the area over the last several years with new businesses sprouting up and increased investment by the city into the area.

Neighborhood Revitalization

Patriot Park has recently been remodeled and includes a walking track, playground, picnic pavilions, and bathrooms. In addition, there is a new aquatic center that includes a pool and splash pad area.

Both of these recreational facilities are within walking distance of most of the West Homewood neighborhoods. This is a good selling point for many home buyers and no doubt will help draw more people to the area.

Some of the newer businesses and restaurants include Seeds Coffee Company, Ash Restaurant, Pizzeria GM, and Magic City Sweet Ice. There is even a local farmers market that provides fresh fruits and vegetables for the residents.

It seems like the growth in many communities recently has been powered by the development of local support services, restaurants and shopping that creates a quaint and small community vibe.

I recently had an appraisal assignment in West Homewood so I thought I would share some of the market graphs and trends that I found. All of my data is taken from the Greater Alabama MLS.

If you are looking to buy or sell in the West Homewood area and need an appraisal please give me a call or if you have a question leave a comment below.

West Homewood Home Sales By The Numbers

Median Sold Price

The median sold price over the past 5 years has shown a steady positive trend.

While both the median and average price are useful metrics to look at the median price gives us a better picture of what is actually occurring because it is not influenced as much by the high and low sales, which could also be considered outliers.

Average Sale Price

Here’s what the average price trend looks like going back ten years.

It provides a clear picture of what happened during the 2007 real estate crash. Prices peaked around 2007 and then started to plummet. After bottoming out in 2011 prices started to increase again and they are still experiencing a positive upward trend. The current average price is now higher than its peak in 2007.

Days On Market

Here’s a look at the Days on Market (DOM) going back ten years. What do you see?

The Days on Market (DOM) metric is a measure of how long it takes to sell a home, from initial listing until it goes under contract. I wrote more about How Knowing Days On Market Can Help Buyers and Sellers Be More Successful in a recent post if you want to learn more about it.

If you compare it to the average sale price you can see that about the same time the average price started to fall the DOM started increasing. Appraisers consider all of these stats together to get a good idea of what is happening in the market.

Price Per Square Foot

The last graph I’ll share is related to the price per square foot. This is just one more metric to look at and consider when trying to get a feel for the market.

This graph adds support to the average and median price trend graphs.

It only goes back to 2010 because the Greater Alabama MLS did not track the living area of listings before this. It shows a steady increase since 2010 which is what the graph for average sale price also shows.

West Homewood Takeaways

• The West Homewood real estate market is currently seeing an upward trend in the prices of home sales.
• Price increases are most likely due in part to the overall increase in demand and limited inventory.
• In addition to the larger market, it is also important to remember the importance of neighborhood support services and investment by the city in its infrastructures such as park and recreational services.
• When you have a combination of positive market forces combined with investment in the community by the city government and local businesses this creates a great environment for real estate prices to increase which all contributes to an appreciating market.
• Home buyers are attracted to areas that have good shopping and dining choices as well as community support services because they have positive influences on quality of life and property values.

Conclusion

In short, the West Homewood housing market is in an upward price trend and this is expected to continue into the immediate future. A combination of housing supply, demand, and positive neighborhood support services is contributing to this. Are you interested in buying in this area? If you have any appraisal related questions feel free to contact me and as always thanks for reading.

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