The Calhoun County, Ala., housing market was mostly flat in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period a year ago.
Foreclosures and home sales in the county so far in 2017 are about on par with what they were at this point in 2016, recent reports and probate records show. Some housing industry experts say while the county is doing better since the Great Recession era, it needs more jobs to trigger housing market growth seen in other parts of the state.
"When I travel to other markets, Calhoun County is still lagging," David Dethrage, owner of Home Realty Co. in Oxford, said of the housing. "We don't have the same type of new construction and speculation for buying than in other markets."
According to Calhoun County Probate Office records, the county had 65 foreclosures and 690 mortgages from January through March. That's a slight uptick from the 63 foreclosures and 642 mortgages reported in the same three months last year.
Alabama Center for Real Estate statistics show the county had 204 home sales in January and February, slightly more than the 198 homes sold during those two months last year. Also, the average home sales price was $137,110 from January and February, up 11.3% year-over-year.
Home sales and prices for March were not yet available by Monday.
Meanwhile, Alabama home sales had a larger 5.1% increase for January and February, year-over-year. Also, the state's average home sales price was higher at $163,654, a 7.3% jump from January and February a year ago, according to the center's report.
The county and much of the U.S. struggled with high foreclosure rates in the years after the 2008 Great Recession, which depressed home prices and sales. Calhoun County foreclosures and home sales eventually reached pre-recession levels two years ago, but haven't shown growth like other parts of the state.
"The housing market in the state is growing," said Keivan Deravi, economist at Auburn University Montgomery. "The worst is over."
Deravi said the state housing market in the last two or three years has recovered much of the wealth it lost in the recession. The markets in the state seeing all the growth also are seeing increases in jobs, Deravi said.
"It all comes down to jobs and location," he said. "If there are reports of solid job growth in Calhoun County and there was an expected increase of in-migration, you'd see market growth."
The county has had some job growth in recent years, but it has also lost hundreds of mainly well-paying jobs in the defense industry, most notably the Anniston Army Depot. According to the Alabama Department of Labor, the county's jobless rate was 6.8% in February, higher than the state's 6.2% rate.
Dethrage said markets like Tuscaloosa, which are booming economically, also have better housing markets than Calhoun County.
"Tuscaloosa is just an exciting, vibrant place...it's all about jobs," Dethrage said. "If we get significant job growth, this place will take off."
