Alabama Mortgage Borrowers Re-Entering the Market

A new report shows the Alabama housing market suffered through decreased existing homes sales in 2006, but an uptick in December gave hope that the future would be stable.

Meanwhile, Birmingham home sales increased for both the month and the year, according to data compiled by the Alabama Real Estate Research and Education Center at the University of Alabama.

Statewide, 4,457 units were sold in December - an increase of 5.3 percent over November. For the year 59,222 existing homes were sold, compared to 59,922 in 2005. The slight drop was a signal that home purchase loan borrowers in the state are waiting for prices to fall.

As it stood in December, the average selling price for a house in the state was $154,417, down more than $8,000 from $162,706 in November. Overall in 2006, however, the average selling price increased to $156,370, compared to $148,184 in 2005.

As Alabama mortgage seekers hope the late year trend continues and affordability becomes more realistic, sales across the region ought to pick up.