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Decatur weekly real estate update

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding mortgage rate trends over the last week—and for good reason. Last week, a rate hike caused 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage loan rates to top 4% for the first time since 2019. In a normal market, interest rate hikes can slow the housing market down significantly, as even the most marginal hike has the potential to cause buyers’ monthly mortgage notes to increase by hundreds of dollars each month. As such, this type of record-high increase should have tempered at least some of the unusual market trends that are occurring across the nation. But as we’ve seen over the last couple of years, the pandemic-fueled housing market is anything but normal—and it continued to defy logic even after the hike.

Whether or not it will continue to do so is still up in the air—and there are new signs that it may not. According to new housing market data, the rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage loans now averages 4.05%, and this week, the rates for other types of mortgage loans inched higher as well. And most experts believe that the Federal Reserve is on the cusp of raising interest rates in the very near future. The Federal Reserve added fuel to that fire on Feb. 21 when Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman noted support for a quarter- to half-percentage point increase in interest rates—which could happen as early as March if inflation readings are too high. Two other Fed officials, Governor Lael Brainard and New York Fed President John Williams, also signaled that they were ready to move on a rate increase next month.

If the Fed rate hike happens, it may help to decelerate the buying trends we’re seeing in the housing market, which could work to drive down home prices as well. But it’s important to remember that this market is anything but ordinary. This week, numerous experts predicted that housing prices are not going to decrease in the near future—but are likely to increase rapidly instead. Some experts expect home prices to increase by up to 22% come spring—which would be yet another massive hit to potential buyers. To help you stay current on what’s happening in the housing market, real estate platform ZeroDown compiled a weekly real estate market report for Decatur using data from Redfin. Statistics are as of the week of Feb. 20, 2022. Metros with more than 50 homes sold during the time period were considered for metro-level rankings for each statistic.

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Median sales price

Decatur, AL metro area:
– Median sales price: $235,975
– One-year change: +39.8%

Metros with highest median sales price
#1. San Jose, CA metro area: $1.4 million
#2. San Francisco, CA metro area: $1.4 million
#3. Santa Cruz, CA metro area: $1.3 million

Metros with lowest median sales price
#1. Youngstown, OH metro area: $128,625
#2. Saginaw, MI metro area: $129,788
#3. Cumberland, MD metro area: $131,475

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Median sales price per square foot

Decatur, AL metro area:
– Median sales price per square foot: $124
– One-year change: +31.0%

Metros with highest median sales price per square foot
#1. San Francisco, CA metro area: $1,044
#2. San Jose, CA metro area: $859
#3. Kahului, HI metro area: $848

Metros with lowest median sales price per square foot
#1. Cumberland, MD metro area: $80
#2. Saginaw, MI metro area: $88
#3. Youngstown, OH metro area: $91

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Sales to list price ratio

Decatur, AL metro area:
– Average sales to list price ratio: 0.98
– One-year change: -0.01

Metros with highest sales to list price ratio
#1. San Jose, CA metro area: 1.11
#2. San Francisco, CA metro area: 1.09
#3. Oakland, CA metro area: 1.09

Metros with lowest sales to list price ratio
#1. Victoria, TX metro area: 0.96
#2. Battle Creek, MI metro area: 0.96
#3. Cumberland, MD metro area: 0.97

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Homes sold with price drops

Decatur, AL metro area:
– Homes sold with price drops: 16.9%
– One-year change: -0.1%

Metros with most homes sold with price drops
#1. Watertown, NY metro area: 38.8%
#2. Eau Claire, WI metro area: 36.5%
#3. Gadsden, AL metro area: 36.3%

Metros with least homes sold with price drop
#1. Hinesville, GA metro area: 5.0%
#2. Warner Robins, GA metro area: 6.5%
#3. San Jose, CA metro area: 7.8%

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Off market in two weeks

Decatur, AL metro area:
– Off market in two weeks: 43.2%
– One-year change: +6.0%

Metros with the most homes off market in two weeks
#1. Seattle, WA metro area: 91.8%
#2. Denver, CO metro area: 86.7%
#3. San Jose, CA metro area: 86.1%

Metros with the least homes off market in two weeks
#1. Myrtle Beach, SC metro area: 1.3%
#2. Urban Honolulu, HI metro area: 4.5%
#3. Oshkosh, WI metro area: 4.7%

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Months of supply

Decatur, AL metro area:
– Months of supply: 7.9 months
– One-year change: -0.1 months

Metros with the most months of supply
#1. Atlantic City, NJ metro area: 23.0 months
#2. Myrtle Beach, SC metro area: 17.9 months
#3. Ocean City, NJ metro area: 16.8 months

Metros with least months of supply
#1. Lewiston, ME metro area: 2.0 months
#2. Denver, CO metro area: 3.4 months
#3. Portland, ME metro area: 3.5 months

This story originally appeared on ZeroDown
and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.