Birmingham appreciation rates and housing market information

Birmingham housing market information

With a population of 243,072, 112,229 total housing units (homes and apartments), and a median house value of $107,825, house prices in Birmingham are solidly below the national average.

single-family detached homes are the single most common housing type in Birmingham, accounting for 61.00% of the city's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Birmingham include large apartment complexes or high rise apartments (28.32%), duplexes, homes converted to apartments, or other small apartment buildings (7.39%), and a few row houses and other attached homes (2.79%).

People in Birmingham primarily live in small (one, two, or no bedroom) single-family detached homes. Birmingham has a mixture of owner-occupied and renter-occupied housing.

At the end of World War II, American soldiers returned home triumphant and, with the help of the GI Bill, built homes by the millions on the edges of America's cities. These homes were predominantly capes and ranches, modest in size, but built to house a growing middle-class as the 20th century became the American century. Birmingham's housing was primarily built during this period, from the '40s through the '60s. A full 54.08% of the city's housing hails from this era. Other housing ages represented in Birmingham include homes built between 1970-1994 (28.14%), and housing constructed from 1939 and earlier (14.71%). There's also some housing in Birmingham built between 1995 and later (3.07%).

Vacant housing appears to be an issue in Birmingham. Fully 11.85% of the housing stock is classified as vacant. Left unchecked, vacant Birmingham homes and apartments can be a drag on the real estate market, holding Birmingham real estate prices below levels they could achieve if vacant housing was absorbed into the market and became occupied. Housing vacancy rates are a useful measure to consider, along with other things, if you are a home buyer or a real estate investor.

Birmingham home appreciation rates

Birmingham's appreciation rate notably has been below the national average for the last ten years. The average annual home appreciation rate in Birmingham during the period has been just 4.30%, which is lower than % of US communities.

NeighborhoodScout's data show that during the latest twelve months, Birmingham home appreciation rates, at 0.10%, have been at or slightly above the national average. In the latest quarter, Birmingham's appreciation rate has been 0.75%, which annualizes to a rate of 3.00%.

Relative to Alabama, our data show that Birmingham's latest annual appreciation rate is higher than 19% of the other cities and towns in Alabama.

One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the city. Individual neighborhoods within Birmingham differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Birmingham - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 1990, to assist you in making the best Birmingham real estate investment or home purchase decisions.