Huntsville, Madison County housing market remains vibrant

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - If you are jumping into the housing market, be prepared! It is taking longer to build homes, and it’s more expensive. However, the market is not black and white, especially when you look at the whole picture.

“The housing market in Huntsville/Madison County is still a very vibrant environment for home building and new home sales,” said Barry Oxley, Executive Officer at Huntsville Madison County Builders Association.

According to Oxley, interest rates are higher than a year ago, but historically still lower than average. He said the main problem is getting all the right products at the right time. A shortage of materials has slowed the building and buying processes, and led to higher costs.

“It’s taking longer to build a home because of the supply chain issues,” Oxley said. “Everything from transformers to windows and doors.”

Oxley said the average cost of new home construction has risen by 39 percent over the past two years. For example, that $200,000 house you looked at back in 2019, is now going to be closer to $280,000.

Although the rise in prices may concern many potential home buyers, Oxey said we must remember that market trends change every day.

“I keep on saying that time is going to be the factor, that we are going to have to wait and see and let inventory levels stabilize,” Oxley said. “If we do have a housing slowdown in other markets around the country - which they are having - that will help us out here because that means they will use less supplies in other areas, and we can use those supplies in our areas and that helps build our market here.”

Also, Oxley said a common misconception is that a lot of major builders have stopped production. However, there are new houses being built every day, at every price point in Huntsville/Madison County.

“There are still homes available, and homes at lots of different price points,” Oxley said. “We are really blessed in North Alabama to have such explosive growth, and we believe that it’s going to stay this way for the next three to five years.”

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