Is Huntsville Alabama in a "Buyers' Market"?

What is a "buyers' market"?  How can you guage whether or not your real estate market is heading in that direction?  No matter where you are the real estate market your town is either a buyer's market, sellers' market, or sometimes a little of both.  So what is the general rule of thumb?  Most real estate practitioners consider a typical market to be one in which homes take an average of six months to sell.  By keeping track of the number of days on the market (DOM) Realtors® can guage whether they are in a buyers market or a sellers market.  This means that in the MLS (Multi-Listing Service), there are likely to be at least six months worth of inventory of homes on hand to sell.  If the inventory rises above six months worth of inventory on hand, the real estate market is considered by most to be swinging into a buyers' market.  If it falls below, it is becoming a sellers' market.

In short, a buyers market is one in which there are too many homes on the market for the number of buyers.  As a result, homes take longer to sell and prices fall.  The chart below shows the trend in which the Huntsville Alabama real estate market is heading.  Statistics show that the number of homes sold has dropped when compared to sales in 2006 and 2007 when the real estate market was really hot as it was in most places in the country.  The real estate market for Huntsville Alabama was turning into a buyers market in September of 2007 when the number of homes on the market was at 7.99 months worth of supply.  January was a very slow month with 9.63 months worth of supply of homes on the market!  However, the number of homes sold for June shows some strength going into July with June falling to 6.88 months of homes on the market.  Average DOM for the year to date is currently at 99.7 days compared with 78.0 and 79.3 for 2006 and 2007 respectively.