dothanhomesearch.com

By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

The number of homes for sale in and around Dothan fell back last month from the all-time high in May. As of July 1, there were 954 single family homes on the market. However, if you read yesterday’s real estate market update, you know that we are back up over 970 this week.

Inventory

We seem to be stuck, at least for the time being, at between 950 and 975 homes on the market, which again means we are in a strong buyers market. It is hard to imagine much fluctuation in these numbers in the near future.

Absorption rate

The absorption rate for July is down again to 8.59 months of inventory. What this means is that it would take about eight and a half months to sell every home currently for sale in Dothan at the current rate of sales, if no new listings came on the market. The downward trend is continuing, and that is a good sign that the Dothan real estate market is healthy.

Inventory and absorption rates can vary between different areas around Dothan. If you would like to see these numbers for a particular area, drop us an email or leave a comment below with your request!

Tags: absorption+rate, Dothan, real+estate+market

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Monday Market Snapshot - July 21, 2008

Coming later this week we’ll have the July Inventory report, as well as a look at the new proposed school zones for Dothan.

Homes on the market stat is the total of single family residential properties currently listed for sale. All statistical information is from the Dothan Multiple Listing Service (Dothan MLS) and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

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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.

Tags: Dothan+Planning+Commission, Dothan+real+estate+development

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Back in late December we looked at some predictions for what the Dothan real estate market may do in 2008. Since the year is halfway gone, now is a good time to look to see how our predictions are faring.

Home sales

Prediction – down 10% from 2007
Actual year-to-date – down 12.4% in units, 9.1% in volume

Nothing surprising about this stat. Pending sales are strong, so I’ll stick to this prediction.

Homes on the market

Prediction – remain steady between 850 – 950 units
Actual – inventory today is 956 single family homes

I may have underestimated this one by a bit. Inventory in other areas of the country is steady to falling, so I am going to revise my prediction and say that the number of homes for sale in the Dothan area will hover between 920 and 980 for the rest of 2008.

Mortgage rates

Prediction – steady around 6% with less than 0.5% fluctuation
Actual – today’s rates are around 6.25%

The only change I will make here is to say that there is a far greater likelihood of rates being closer to 6.5% at the end of the year than under 6%.

Foreclosures

Prediction – upward trend
Actual – steady to slightly up

Up until May, the number of homes in foreclosure in Alabama had dropped significantly. Then June came and they jumped 22%. The upward trend will likely continue, if for no other reason than the overall weak economy.

New Construction

Prediction – housing starts in Dothan down
Actual – housing starts in Dothan down

We nailed this one. There were 178 residential new construction permits issued in the first six months of 2007, compared to 133 so far in 2008.

Median Price

Prediction – down
Actual – no change

The median price of homes sold in the Dothan area in 2007 was $135,000, and the median price so far in 2008 is exactly the same. I still think we will end the year with a slightly lower median.

The overall Dothan real estate market is sound, especially when compared to some other markets around the country. Expect the remainder of 2008 to be much the same as the first half.

What are your thoughts on the real estate market here in the Dothan area? What do you see happening in the future? Chime in by commenting below!

Tags: Dothan+real+estate+market

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

While the number of homes sold and closed in June was down compared to May and also to June of 2007 (114 to 122 and 133 respectively), the number of homes in pending status was up significantly when compared to the same time frames.

The 87 homes listed in pending status in the Dothan MLS is the highest monthly total since March, and the second highest since April of 2007, over a year ago. Since pending sales are considered the prime indicator of future market activity, the Dothan real estate market looks to be in good shape for at least the next few months.

Sales sagged a bit in June, but it was still the second biggest month so far this year. It will be interesting to see how the next couple of months shape up, as July and August typically begin the late summer into fall seasonal slowdown.

If you are reading this and wondering if it is a good time to buy or sell a home in Dothan, then we need to talk. Pick up the phone and call me at the office, 334–793–6990, or on my cell, 334–596–0808. I’m not going to give you a hard sell or anything like that, we will just talk about your situation and try to figure out what is best for you right now. Sound fair?

Tags: Dothan+real+estate, homes+sales+in+Dothan

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Our new Monday morning snapshot of the Dothan real estate market.

Monday Market Snapshot - July 14, 2008

Tomorrow, we’ll have our monthly report on home sales in and around Dothan, as well as a look back at our 2008 predictions for the Dothan real estate market, and how they’re holding up through the first half of the year.

Homes on the market stat is the total of single family residential properties currently listed for sale. All statistical information is from the Dothan Multiple Listing Service (Dothan MLS) and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Starting today and on Monday morning henceforth, we are going to post some statistics that hopefully will give you a good overview of the state of the Dothan real estate market. You will continue to see monthly updates on homes sold, homes on the market, new construction, and foreclosures as before. Starting next Monday, we’ll have a trend indicator beside each statistic as well.

Total homes on the market in and around Dothan
959

Median list price
$175,000

Average price per square foot
$97.37

Average days on market
160

Least expensive listing
$10,000

Most expensive listing
$2,500,000

Pending sales
161

Sold – last 7 days
38

If there is another stat related to the Dothan real estate market that you would like to see on this weekly list, let us know by commenting below.

These statistics are from the Dothan Multiple Listing Service (Dothan MLS) for the period of June 30,2008 through July 6, 2008, and are considered reliable, but not guaranteed. Stats are for single family residential only.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Inventory is still inching upward. We are up to 975 homes on the market as of the first of June (the number is down a bit today). There has never been a time in the Dothan area where buyers have had more to choose from than they do right now.

Inventory

The number of homes for sale in the Dothan area is knocking on 1000. A good neutral market would be around 600. We got as low as 450 in 2005. It is amazing to see how this market has turned in under three years. I don’t expect us to hit the 1000 homes mark, but it could happen. As I posted last week, sales have remained steady, so inventory should do the same.

Absorption rate

The absorption rate for June is down again to 8.97 months, which is the lowest since last summer. For those of you just joining us, this means that there is about a nine month supply of homes on the market, based on current inventory and sales figures from the past three months. The trend is definitely downward, and that is a good sign that the Dothan real estate market is healthy.

Inventory and absorption rates can vary between different areas around Dothan. If you would like to see these numbers for a particular area, drop us an email or leave a comment below with your request!

Tags: absorption+rate, Dothan, real+estate+market

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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.

Posted by Judy Spears | Currently 1 Comment »

By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

May was a strong month for home sales around the Dothan area. The number of homes sold was up around 20% over April, and with 122 homes sold, May of 2008 almost equaled the 124 sold in May, 2007.  

The number of pending home sales has been fairly stable since the first of the year, and has closely followed last years numbers. There were a little over 80 homes listed as pending as June began. Again, we look at pending home sales as a good measure of activity to come in the next 30 to 60 days.

Despite a couple of bumps, the number of homes sold has closely followed totals from last year, albeit about 15% lower overall. We hit a big slowdown in mid-summer last year, and it remains to be seen whether the same will happen this year, since summer is getting cranked up.

I’ll have a report on inventory and absorption rates later in the week.

If you are reading this and wondering if it is a good time to buy or sell a home in Dothan, then we need to talk. Pick up the phone and call me at the office, 334–793–6990, or on my cell, 334–596–0808. I’m not going to give you a hard sell or anything like that, we will just talk about your situation and try to figure out what is best for you right now. Sound fair?

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