August Dothan Planning Commission meeting
August 22nd, 2008 - Categories: Dothan area Real Estate Market information, Dothan area information
By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS
http://www.judyspears.com
Not a whole lot on the agenda for this month’s meeting of the Dothan Planning Commission, continuing the trend.
A request for approval of development plans for the business/office section of Grove Park were tabled until September. In addition to the questions about traffic and parking, it seems the property in question was not platted correctly when the original subdivision was done.
The recommendation was made to rezone 10.63 acres near the intersection of East Main Street (U.S. Highway 84 East) and North Beverly Road. The parcel is actually part of a larger parcel already zoned for business. This area is experiencing a lot of commercial growth recently, as two new strip centers have been built in the last few years just up the road near Southeast Alabama Medical Center, and SAMC is working on plans to develop their large parcel of land across Main Street from this parcel.
The Planning Commission also recommended to the City Commission the creation of a special type of Office zoning. There has been a need for this change and it was brought to the forefront at the June meeting when a rezoning request was turned down for a property on Kent Drive.
While not on the Planning Commission schedule this month, expect to see development plans for a couple of new shopping centers near the intersection of West Main Street and John D. Odom Road in the near future. The Dothan Eagle has a few details of what may be in the works for this area.
| Currently No Comments »
Dothan Real Estate Market Report - August New Construction
August 12th, 2008 - Categories: Inside the numbers, New construction homes in Dothan
By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS
http://www.judyspears.com
The new home market here in the Dothan area seems to be gaining some traction, after a dismal 12–18 month down period. There were 28 new residential construction permits issued in July, up from 21 in June.
Here is the trend over the last twelve months.
Inventory of new construction homes on the market is down, which is another sign of a turnaround. There are currently 215 new construction homes listed in the Dothan area MLS, down from 221 last month. The median price of these listed homes is $195,400, which is about $60,000 above the overall market median.
There were 15 sales of new construction homes in July according to data from the Dothan MLS, with an average price per square foot of $101.45 and average days on the market of 133 days.
If you have an interest in building or purchasing a new construction home, give me a call or use the contact form. As a Certified New Homes Specialist (CNHS), I have extensive training in the new home market and would be happy to consult with you on your real estate needs.
| Currently No Comments »
July Dothan Planning Commission Meeting
July 17th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan area Real Estate Market information, Dothan area information
By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS
http://www.judyspears.com
Each meeting of the Dothan Planning Commission seems to get shorter and shorter. There were a grand total of four business items on Wednesday’s agenda, and the meeting was over in about 20 minutes.
Items approved include a recommendation to rezone 0.87 acre at the corner of Third Avenue and Trim Street from M-1 (manufacturing) to R-50–S (residential). Pending rezoning approval by the Dothan City Commission, this parcel will be divided into six residential lots for home building. The other two items, both approved, were the expansion of an animal hospital on South Oates Street and re-plat of a small parcel on North Herring Street.
A proposed new zoning, designated O-2A, was presented to the commission by the planning office. The new zone could by used in situtations similar to a denied request last month, where residential property adjoins high traffic, more commercial areas. The home or property that was looked at last month is on the corner of Ross Clark Circle and Kent Drive. It is basically uninhabitable as a residence because it is so close to a major roadway, but the neighbors objected to it being rezoned because current zoning left too many possibilities of businesses that could locate there. This new zoning would fix a problem that effects several areas around Dothan.
The Dothan Eagle has some more details on the proposed O-2A zoning. The Planning Commission will vote on this next month, and if approved, it will go to the full Dothan City Commission for a vote.
| Currently 2 Comments »
Dothan Real Estate Market Report - July New Construction
July 9th, 2008 - Categories: Inside the numbers, New construction homes in Dothan
By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS
http://www.judyspears.com
There is nothing else to say about the new home market here in Dothan other than it is flat. New home starts continue to be low and the number of new construction homes on the market is at an all-time high. There were 21 new residential construction permits issued in June, down from 23 in May and June of 2007.
Here is the trend over the last twelve months.
Inventory of new construction homes on the market remains steady. There are currently 221 listed in the Dothan area MLS, up slightly from last month. The median price of these listed homes is $199,900, over $60,000 more than the overall market median which is around $135,000. Average days on the market is 196 days.
Is the long-term trend any better? Maybe. The new home market in Dothan hopefully bottomed out around the first of this year.
What does all this information mean to you? If you are in the market for a new home, then you have a lot of choices and some bargaining power, especially in higher price ranges.
If you have an interest in building or purchasing a new construction home, give me a call or use the contact form. As a Certified New Homes Specialist (CNHS), I have extensive training in the new home market and would be happy to consult with you on your real estate needs.
| Currently 1 Comment »
June Dothan Planning Commission Meeting
June 19th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan area Real Estate Market information, Dothan area information
By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS
http://www.judyspears.com
There were only a few new items in front of the Dothan Planning Commission at this month’s meeting. Development plans for a new Quality Inn near Southeast Alabama Medical Center and the re-approval of plans for Highland Hills Apartments, to be located at the intersection of Flowers Chapel Road and Brannon Stand Road. The plans for Highland Hills were approved a year ago, but since the project has yet to be started, plans had to be re-approved before they expired.
By far the most discussion was over a rezoning request for a property located at the corner of Kent Drive and Ross Clark Circle. For all intents and purposes, the property is unusable as a residence because of traffic and noise. However, residential zoning is across the street and next door, making rezoning the property to office usage something the Planning Commission was unwilling to do. There was a call for a new zoning for transitional properties such as this by the commission.
Other items approved were the recommendation for rezoning of 9.4 acres between South Oates Street and Hodgesville Road to B-2 district, and 52 acres on the east side of the 2500 block of Ross Clark Circle to B-2 district.
| Currently 1 Comment »
Dothan Real Estate Market Report - June New Construction
June 9th, 2008 - Categories: Inside the numbers, New construction homes in Dothan
By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS
http://www.judyspears.com
Well, the jump in new home starts here in the Dothan real estate market was short lived. Last month we had a big increase. This month the number was right back down again. There were 23 new residential construction permits issued in May, down from 37 in April.
Here is the trend over the last twelve months.
Inventory of new construction homes on the market remains steady. There are currently 224 listed in the Dothan area MLS, the same number as last month.
What will next month hold?
If you have an interest in building or purchasing a new construction home, give me a call or use the contact form. As a Certified New Homes Specialist (CNHS), I have extensive training in the new home market and would be happy to consult with you on your real estate needs.
| Currently 2 Comments »
April Dothan Planning Commission Meeting
April 18th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan area Real Estate Market information, Hidden Lake, New construction homes in Dothan, Real Estate News
By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS
http://www.judyspears.com
The agenda for this month’s Dothan Planning Commission was relatively short, with only a couple of items causing much discussion. The development of the next phase of Hidden Lake Subdivision was far and away the hottest topic of the day.
This development was originally brought to the Planning Commission in October, 2006, and was approved. Plans presented at that time included much green space, walking trails, and several small parks on the 167 acre site. The development never started because this was around the time the new construction market in Dothan softened.
Fast forward 18 months, and although the new home market is still soft, it is relatively steady. Because of the need to maximize their investment, the developers came back with new plans that eliminated 12 acres of open space and parks while adding 31 lots, bumping up the total number to 353. Residents living in the current Hidden Lakes feel they were mislead back in 2006. The new plans met all the requirements for approval, so the commission had little choice but to approve. The market wins.
Planning Department staff report on Hidden Lake development
There were several citizens attending concerned about a development in north Dothan that was on the agenda, only to be tabled. The area of the proposed subdivision is mostly rural, even though it is only a couple of miles outside of town. Developing a 71 acre parcel and putting over 200 houses on it, in an area that is predominately quiet and rural, will always bring a crowd. Should be an interesting meeting next month.
| Currently No Comments »
Dothan Real Estate Market Report - New Construction for 1st Quarter, 2008
April 10th, 2008 - Categories: Inside the numbers, New construction homes in Dothan
By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS
http://www.judyspears.com
New home starts were up again in March, compared to the past few months. Spring typically means an increase, but as you can see from the graph, that wasn?t the case this time last year. If we see another good couple of months in April and May, we might be able to say the bottom of the new construction market in Dothan, Alabama has been reached. The three-year graph below seems to support this idea.
Here is the trend over the last twelve months.
Here is the trend over a longer period of time; the last three years.
As of this morning, there were 217 new construction homes listed in the Dothan area MLS, down about 5.5% from last month. Another positive sign that things might be turning about for Dothan area homebuilders.
If you have an interest in building or purchasing a new construction home, give me a call or use the contact form. As a Certified New Homes Specialist (CNHS), I have extensive training in the new home market and would be happy to consult with you on your real estate needs.
| Currently No Comments »
Land deal done for Country Crossing
March 14th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan area information, Real Estate News
By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS
http://www.judyspears.com
According to WTVY and The Dothan Eagle, a deal has been signed for the purchase of 779 acres located about eight miles south of Dothan for the new Country Crossing development. The deal reported involved over a dozen parcels of land and about six or seven owners.
Details are still emerging, but you can see an approximate location of the development below. Developer Ronnie Gilley stated that the company overseeing the project, Apogee Attractions, would be here next week to start the design phase, and that construction should begin within 90 days.
Read more on Country Crossing here and here.
| Currently No Comments »
Dothan Real Estate Market Report - February New Construction
March 6th, 2008 - Categories: Inside the numbers, New construction homes in Dothan
By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS
http://www.judyspears.com
The number of new homes started in February was up from January. Keep in mind that the 19 homes started will not be completed for at least three or four months, so they are not typically included in the inventory numbers you see posted here.
Here is the trend over the last twelve months.
There are currently 230 new construction homes listed in the Dothan area MLS (broken down by price range below). This number is down from the past two months, which hopefully means that some old inventory is starting to move.
- under $135,000 ? 43 listings
- $135,000 to $200,000 ? 80 listings
- $200,000 to $300,000 ? 57 listings
- over $300,000 ? 50 listings
If you have an interest in building or purchasing a new construction home, give me a call or use the contact form. As a Certified New Homes Specialist (CNHS), I have extensive training in the new home market and would be happy to consult with you on your real estate needs.