April marks the 10th consecutive month in which home sales have increased in Birmingham when comparing the month to the same month last year. On top of the year over year improvement, April also had over an 11% increase in home sales from this past March as well, as reported by the Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE).
This news of Birmingham’s home sales follows last month’s report from ACRE that states new home sales alone have increased 9.2% year over year across Alabama, with a jump of over 16% from February 2012 to March 2012. This increase of new home sales year over year even outperformed the national market which had just a 7% increase in sales during that time.
As pricing remains relatively low the demand for new homes has steadily increased with the improving economy, leading to a shrinkage of new construction inventory over the last year. Minimizing the amount of available inventory is certainly key to improving home values and prices. The current prices of homes have recently become even more enticing to potential buyers as it was announced that the average interest rate of a 30-year mortgage has dropped yet again to a new record of 3.84%.
Attractive pricing and record low interest rates (not to mention favorable weather this Spring) have created a buyer-friendly market unlike any other in recent decades. Buyers that are taking advantage of this opportunity have found themselves paying hundreds of dollars less each month for mortgage payments than they would have just a short time ago when interest rates were considerably higher.