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Sarah Mitchell

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Compass Real Estate · Alabama

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Alabama housing market

The typical home in Alabama is worth $241,613, up 1.9% over the past year. Homes that actually closed went for a median of $312,600 after 57 days on market. On supply, pricing discipline, and speed of sale, Alabama currently reads as a leaning buyer's at 4.0 months of supply. At today's 7.03% 30-year fixed rate, that typical home costs $1,290 a month in principal and interest with 20.0% down.

Sources: Zillow, August 2026 · Refreshes monthly · Redfin, through May 2026 · Freddie Mac via FRED, September 2026

Alabama housing market at a glance

Every tile carries the provider and the month it was published

Typical home value

$241,613

+1.9% YoY · Zillow, August 2026

Median sale price

$312,600

Redfin, through May 2026

Typical asking rent

$1,466/mo

Median of 71 cities · Zillow, August 2026

30-yr fixed rate

7.03%

Freddie Mac via FRED, September 2026

Monthly P&I

$1,290

20.0% down, 30-yr fixed

Days on market

+1 days YoY

Active listings

23,133

+0.8% YoY

Median household income

$62,027

U.S. Census ACS, 2023

Typical home value is Zillow's ZHVI — the value of a typical home across the whole housing stock, not just the homes that sold. Median sale price is what actually closed. Redfin stopped publishing public market trackers in June 2026; latest available period is May 2026.

Where Alabama home prices are heading

Alabama's typical home value is $241,613, up 1.9% over 12 months. The two-year number matters more than the one-year number: it spans a full rate cycle rather than a single seasonal swing. Values are at or within a rounding error of their two-year high.

Against the national picture, Alabama runs 34.5% below the U.S. typical home value of $368,697, and its 12-month move of +1.9% is outpacing the national pace of +1.2%.

What would have to change for Alabama prices to fall. Prices fall when supply outruns demand for long enough that sellers compete on price rather than waiting. Alabama is carrying 4.0 months of supply — inside the four-to-six-month band where neither side dictates terms. Active listings are +0.8% year over year and new listings -1.0%, which is close to flat. The other lever is the rate. At 7.03%, existing owners with cheaper mortgages have little reason to list, which is what has kept supply artificially low across most of the country. A sustained move down in rates unlocks those sellers and adds inventory; it also adds buyers. Which side moves first decides the direction.

Market trends

Statewide monthly series · Redfin, through May 2026 · No longer updating · Redfin stopped publishing public market trackers in June 2026; latest available period is May 2026.

What it costs to buy in Alabama at today's rate

Down payment

$48,323

20.0% of value

Loan amount

$193,290

30-yr fixed

Monthly P&I

$1,290

at 7.03%

Income needed

$55,286

28.0% front-end ratio

A buyer purchasing the typical Alabama home at $241,613 puts $48,323 down, finances $193,290, and pays $1,290 a month in principal and interest. Property taxes, homeowners insurance, HOA dues, and mortgage insurance sit on top of that and vary by county — budget for them separately rather than assuming the P&I figure is the payment.

Lenders typically want principal and interest under 28.0% of gross income, which puts the qualifying income for that purchase at roughly $55,286. Alabama's median household earns $62,027 (Census ACS 2023) — a gap of $6,741 below what the median household brings in. Put differently, the median household would spend 25.0% of gross income on principal and interest alone — inside the ratio most lenders underwrite to.

The value-to-income ratio in Alabama is 3.9x. Between roughly 3.5x and 5x, prices are ahead of local earnings but still within reach for higher-earning households. Model your own numbers in the affordability calculator or the mortgage calculator.

Figures are illustrative, not a quote or a pre-approval. Rate: Freddie Mac via FRED, September 2026 · Value: Zillow, August 2026 · Income: U.S. Census ACS, 2023

Buying in Alabama in the next 12 months?

Tell us your timeline. We send the Alabama market brief: the price ranges that are actually clearing, the cities where your budget goes furthest, and what to fix on your credit before you apply.

Rent or buy in Alabama?

Zillow publishes its rent index per city rather than per state, so the honest statewide read is the median across the 71 largest Alabama cities that carry it: $1,466 a month. Set against a typical home value of $241,613, that is a price-to-rent ratio of 13.7x.

Under 15x, buying tends to beat renting for anyone staying more than a few years — the rent you avoid does more work than the capital you tie up. Principal and interest on the typical home runs $176 less per month than that typical rent — and that is before taxes, insurance, and the roughly 1% of value a year most owners spend on maintenance.

For a second read on the same question, the Census ACS puts median gross rent across all Alabama households — every unit type, not just what is currently listed — at $963 a month (2023), with 69.9% of Alabama households owning rather than renting. Asking rents lead the ACS figure because they reflect today's new leases rather than the whole stock of existing ones.

Run the rent-vs-buy calculator with your own holding period and down payment — the statewide ratio is a starting point, not an answer.

Supply: what is on the market in Alabama

Alabama inventory, new listings, sales, and supply, latest month versus the same month a year earlier
Measure	Latest	Year earlier	Change
Active listings	23,133	22,950	+0.8%
New listings	7,527	7,601	-1.0%
Homes sold	5,805	6,135	-5.4%
Months of supply	4.0	3.7	+0.3
Sale-to-list ratio	97.9%	97.9%	Below asking

What these mean. Active listings is the shelf — everything a buyer could tour today. New listings is restock rate; when it falls faster than sales, the shelf empties. Months of supply is active inventory divided by homes sold per month: at the current sales pace, how many months it would take to sell every home currently listed. Under 4 months of supply tilts toward sellers, 4 to 5 months is the neutral band, and above 5 months tilts toward buyers — above 7 months is a glut. These are the same thresholds the market verdict on every city and ZIP page is scored against. Sale-to-list ratio is the discipline check — above 100% means homes are clearing over asking on average, below means sellers are conceding.

Redfin, through May 2026 · No longer updating — Redfin stopped publishing public market trackers in June 2026; latest available period is May 2026. Zillow's inventory and new-listing counts are published per city and appear on the individual city pages.

Where Alabama home values are moving fastest

12-month change in typical home value · Zillow, August 2026

Rising fastest

Falling

Computed from Zillow's typical home value for each city at August 2026 against the same month a year earlier, across the 150 largest Alabama cities by population. Small markets swing hardest because a handful of transactions moves the index — read the city page before treating a large move as a trend.

The most and least expensive cities in Alabama

Typical home value across the 150 largest cities · Zillow, August 2026

Most expensive

1.Mountain Brook$1.05M
2.Orange Beach$682,786
3.Homewood$570,602
4.Vestavia Hills$567,090
5.Dadeville$522,424
6.Fairhope$469,998
7.Gulf Shores$451,403
8.Hoover$438,571
9.Auburn$419,162
10.Pike Road$406,706

Most affordable

1.Brighton$41,697
2.Prichard$57,317
3.Tarrant$75,349
4.West End-Cobb Town$76,655
5.Selma$77,018
6.Midfield$79,726
7.Fairfield$94,108
8.East Brewton$97,739
9.Chickasaw$109,708
10.Gadsden$117,213

The spread between Mountain Brook and Brighton is 25.2x — one reason a single statewide number is close to useless for a buyer with a fixed budget. Pick the city first, then the price band. Speed is a separate axis from price: Mountain Brook was the quickest of these markets to clear at 5 days on market (Redfin, through May 2026).

How Alabama compares

Alabama typical home value, 12-month change, median household income, and value-to-income ratio compared with the United States and neighboring states
Market	Typical value	12-mo change	Median income	Value / income
Alabama	$241,613	+1.9%	$62,027	3.9x
United States	$368,697	+1.2%	—	—
Georgia	$330,817	-0.5%	$74,664	4.4x
Florida	$375,470	-1.5%	$71,711	5.2x
Tennessee	$334,108	+0.7%	$67,097	5.0x

The three states above are Alabama's nearest land neighbours — the markets buyers most often price against when a move is still negotiable. Alabama is the cheapest of this group on a typical-value basis, which is what makes it a destination rather than an origin for cross-state moves.

Values and 12-month changes: Zillow, August 2026 · Refreshes monthly. Income: U.S. Census ACS, 2023. ACS publishes household income per state, not for the nation on the same basis, so the U.S. row shows home value only.

Alabama housing markets by city

430 cities tracked — the 60 largest by population shown

Huntsville

$290,244

Birmingham

$136,876

Montgomery

$152,837

Mobile

$198,189

Tuscaloosa

$245,668

Hoover

$438,571

Auburn

$419,162

Dothan

$206,754

Madison

$376,375

Decatur

$223,248

Florence

$216,557

Prattville

$267,391

Vestavia Hills

$567,090

Alabaster

$305,607

Gadsden

$117,213

Opelika

$308,650

Northport

$289,705

Enterprise

$208,867

Daphne

$328,052

Homewood

$570,602

Athens

$308,196

Trussville

$397,013

Bessemer

$134,200

Pelham

$324,755

Fairhope

$469,998

Albertville

$214,202

Foley

$302,708

Mountain Brook

$1.05M

Oxford

$197,629

Helena

$364,101

Anniston

$146,885

Prichard

$57,317

Cullman

$265,762

Troy

$187,892

Tillmans Corner

Pop. 18K

Selma

$77,018

Calera

$256,768

Millbrook

$222,439

Muscle Shoals

$263,320

Hueytown

$164,376

Saraland

$240,627

Center Point

$156,642

Gardendale

$270,542

Gulf Shores

$451,403

Chelsea

$384,542

Scottsboro

$217,015

Hartselle

$249,857

Talladega

$149,645

Fort Payne

$210,534

Alexander City

$203,935

Jasper

$204,250

Ozark

$150,325

Jacksonville

$216,781

McCalla

Pop. 14K

Irondale

$288,291

Moody

$264,863

Pell City

$289,577

Eufaula

$168,831

Sylacauga

$167,392

Leeds

$254,523

Browse all 430 Alabama cities Compare every state →

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What to do next in Alabama

If you are buying

Set the payment before the price. Start from what you can carry monthly, then work backwards with the affordability calculator — the typical Alabama home is $1,290/mo in P&I today.
Pick the city, not the state. Values across Alabama run from $41,697 in Brighton to $1.05M in Mountain Brook.
Put two finalists head to head in the city comparison tool before you tour anything.
Fix the credit file before you shop the rate. A better score moves the payment more than haggling over price does at 7.03%.

If you are selling

Price against your city, not the statewide figure — the spread between Alabama markets is wider than the year-over-year move in any of them.
Read the supply table above. At 4.0 months of supply, neither side has leverage, so presentation and pricing accuracy decide the outcome.
Watch days on market in your city, not the state. The statewide median was 57 days (Redfin, through May 2026); your city page carries its own.
Time the listing against new-listing volume. New listings are -1.0% year over year — less competition than a year ago.

Alabama housing market questions

What is the typical home value in Alabama?

The typical home value in Alabama is $241,613 (Zillow, August 2026). That is a +1.9% change over the past 12 months. The median price of homes that actually sold was $312,600 (Redfin, through May 2026); sale prices skew toward whatever segment is transacting, which is why they differ from the typical-value figure.

Are Alabama home prices going up or down?

Alabama home values are up 1.9% year over year (Zillow, August 2026). Values are at or near their highest reading in the past two years.

How much income do you need to buy a home in Alabama?

At the current 30-year fixed rate of 7.03%, a $241,613 home with 20.0% down carries roughly $1,290 a month in principal and interest. Using the 28% front-end ratio most lenders underwrite to, that implies a household income of about $55,286 before taxes, insurance, HOA dues, or mortgage insurance are added. Alabama's median household income is $62,027 (Census ACS, 2023), a gap of $6,741 below the median household. These figures are illustrative, not a quote or a pre-approval.

Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Alabama?

Typical asking rent across the largest Alabama cities Zillow publishes rent data for is $1,466 a month (median of 71 cities, Zillow, August 2026). Against a typical home value of $241,613, that is a price-to-rent ratio of 13.7x. Ratios under about 15x generally favour buying if you plan to stay put; above about 20x, renting and investing the difference tends to win over short horizons. Principal and interest alone runs $176 less than that typical rent each month, before taxes, insurance, and maintenance.

Which Alabama cities are the most affordable?

Among the largest cities we track in Alabama, the lowest typical home values are in Brighton ($41,697), Prichard ($57,317), Tarrant ($75,349), West End-Cobb Town ($76,655), Selma ($77,018). Values are Zillow's typical-home-value index for August 2026.

Which Alabama cities are the most expensive?

The highest typical home values among the largest Alabama cities are in Mountain Brook ($1.05M), Orange Beach ($682,786), Homewood ($570,602), Vestavia Hills ($567,090), Dadeville ($522,424). Price per square foot, inventory, and days on market for each are on the individual city pages.

Which Alabama cities are appreciating the fastest?

Over the past 12 months the largest home-value gains among Alabama cities we track were in Jasper (+26.3%), East Brewton (+13.6%), Northport (+9.0%), Chickasaw (+8.1%), Piedmont (+8.0%). Fast appreciation usually reflects constrained supply, in-migration, or a small transaction base — check the individual city page before reading it as a trend.

How long do homes take to sell in Alabama?

Homes in Alabama spent a median of 57 days on market in the last month Redfin published (Redfin, through May 2026). That is 1 days slower than the same month a year earlier. The quickest market among the state's largest cities was Mountain Brook at 5 days. Redfin stopped publishing public market trackers in June 2026; latest available period is May 2026.

How does Alabama compare to neighboring states?

Alabama's typical home value of $241,613 compares with Georgia at $330,817, Florida at $375,470, Tennessee at $334,108. The U.S. typical home value is $368,697, putting Alabama 34.5% below the national figure.

Is now a good time to buy in Alabama?

That depends on your timeline, not the headline. The measurable inputs today: a 30-year fixed rate of 7.03%, 4.0 months of supply statewide (Redfin, through May 2026), active listings +0.8% year over year, and home values +1.9% over the past year. Buyers with a five-year-plus horizon are mostly exposed to the payment, not the price, so the rate you can qualify for matters more than the month you buy. Properties Incorporated is an independent data platform, not a brokerage or lender — this is information, not advice.

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