Huntsville Foreclosure | Huntsville Alabama Foreclosed Homes Blog

Alabama home prices, including those in Madison County, are more affordable than ever, according to a University of Alabama study released Friday.

The Alabama Housing Affordability Index for the first quarter reached 210.4, the highest number on record, according to the study.

The affordability index is defined as the ratio between a market's median income and the median home selling price. An index of 100 means a family earning the median income has just enough money to qualify for a loan for that market's median-priced house.

According to the report, a Huntsville-area family earning the area's median income of $67,500 has 2.27 times the income needed to qualify for a loan to purchase the median-priced home of $143,467, or an affordability index of 227. That's a 16.7 percent increase in affordability from the previous quarter, which had an affordability index of 194.6.

Courtesy of The Huntsville Times by Gina Hannah

Sales of single-family homes in Madison County jumped nearly 20 percent in March, the Huntsville Area Association of Realtors reported Monday.

The increase - from 284 homes sold in February to 340 homes sold in March - marks the second consecutive month to see an increase in sales. In January, 268 homes were sold.

March sales were down 9.6 percent from the same month last year.

 Written by Gina Hannah- The Huntsville times

Original article

Statistics for Entire MLS from 03/01/2009 to 03/31/2009

Many Smaller Cities Dodge Crunch in Consumer Lending

Wall Street Journal | MARCH 30, 2009

Consumer-lending activity has increased in numerous midsize cities in the U.S., a sign they are riding out the recession better than big cities and rural towns, an analysis of credit data shows.

As banks pull back on risk taking across the nation, consumer-loan balances in places like Huntsville, Ala., are rising. In Huntsville, a metropolitan area of 376,000 that is home to many government contractors, borrowing increased 13.2% per household in last year's fourth quarter, compared with the year-earlier period, according to data provided to The Wall Street Journal by Moody's Economy.com and Equifax Inc.

But area still better off than most of country

Foreclosures are up in Huntsville - way up.

According to RealtyTrac, 825 homes in the Huntsville market entered some phase of the foreclosure process during 2008, compared with 76 filings in 2007 and 73 in 2006.

Alabama figures down more than 26% since October

A new report shows the number of Alabama foreclosures was down more than 26 percent from October to November and dropped seven percent from last November.