While it has been a rocky road for various Alabama metros, new home sales in the state rose this past March to a 13.6 percent increase over new home sales in 2013. Specifically in Birmingham, new home sales were up 17 percent from March 2013, as Mobile and Huntsville both had large leaps in growth as well. The state’s five metro markets saw an improvement of 21.8 percent from February. While five markets might seem small, those markets make up 70 percent of all home sales in Alabama.

New median home sales are checking in at $225,104, which is a dip from the previous March and also from a month ago. Housing starts are also slowing down, which might be a reversible trend as the sales pick up and more supply is required. Building permits also dipped 4.7 percent but again were up 9.7 percent from February. While some things might seem up in the air for Birmingham real estate, we’d like to focus on the positive and anticipate that the rest of 2014 has pleasant news to offer in terms of sales activity, prices, home starts, and overall economic strength. If you are thinking of moving to Birmingham, we’d encourage you to check out the area sooner rather than later. As new developments emerge downtown and throughout the city, the vacancy will become competitive, as well as the pricing. Get in while you can!