The Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE) reported this week on AL.com that residential sales for July 2011 have increased over 28% when compared to July 2010. The report noted that July 2007 was the last time Alabama recorded positive sales growth when compared to a previous year. Tuscaloosa had the biggest uptick this month, up nearly 73% since 2010. Nationwide, residential sales were up 21% from 2010 according to the National Association of Realtors.
The report does note that the sales figures were boosted by irregular factors, such as the end of last year's tax credit as well as this year's natural disaster in the area. However encouraging signs are the steady decline of available inventory, as well as the overall dip in sales from June to July this year. June is generally the peak of the residential sales season, with a sharp dropoff in July and through the rest of the year. Typically that drop from June to July is over 6%, however this year the drop from the season's peak month was only 1.4%.