<!–Saxotech Paragraph Count: 13
–>
There aren’t many homes for sale in the Montgomery area like Jimmy Sellars’.
The two-story, 4,500-square-foot home with four bedrooms and five bathrooms sits on about 14 acres in south Montgomery County.
But it is probably the interior, and Sellars’ renovations and additions to the 1960s structure, that make the home so unique. From the windows to the floors to the molding to the built-in bookshelves, nothing is standard issue.
Sellars said there is no way that anyone could duplicate the home for his asking price of $1,075,000.
But buyers for high-end homes are in short supply, experts said.
In the past 12 months, only about 14 homes above $500,000 have sold in the Montgomery area, said real estate agent Jane Albright, referring to information from the Multiple Listing Service.
In 2008, that number was closer to 50 homes, she said. In 2005, it was about 70.
The problem, said Albright, is consumer confidence, or a lack thereof.
“Until buyers feel confident that the homes they purchase today will be worth at least that much next year, sluggish sales will continue,” Albright said. “This is especially a problem with sales of $500,000 and above. While there have been some recent sales in the upper ranges, sales are so few and far between ÿ that appraisers are having a difficult time supporting the value of the homes that do go under contract due to lack of comparable sales within the last six months.”
When appraisers return a value that is less than the seller’s asking price, a buyer may walk away, Albright said. In some cases, sellers will lower their price to meet the appraised value.
“(That) helps sales volume in general, but does little to boost home prices,” Albright said.
Houses priced at $500,000 and higher only make up about 1.5 percent of Montgomery’s — and all of Alabama’s — housing market, said Grayson Glaze, executive director of the Alabama Center for Real Estate at the University of Alabama. Nationwide, they’re 10 percent of the market.
“Alabama and Montgomery demographics point to a very small and finite segment of the population with the necessary income to qualify for a purchase of $500,000 or more,” Glaze said in an email. “For sellers at these price points in a challenging market, the proverbial ‘needle in the haystack’ comes to mind when identifying qualified buyers.”