HEALTHY REAL ESTATE IN HUNTSVILLE – MADISON COUNTY

1. Healthy Sales Prices: Homes in Madison County sold for an average of 98% of list price from February 2008 through February 2009.*
   
   
2. Healthy Property Values: Average sales price of homes sold in Madison County increased to $196,636 up 6.3% in February 2009 compared to February 2008.*
   
   
3. Healthy Long-Term Appreciation: Waiting for prices to decrease in our area is not a safe bet. Median sales prices of homes in Madison County grew steadily from $101,508 in 2000 to $172,000 in 2009, an impressive 69% increase!*
   
   
4. Healthy Wealth Investment: Thanks to the concept of “leveraging,” purchasing a home is by far the best long-term investment (“leveraging” means putting down a small amount of money to earn a big return.) For example, say you use that $10,000 to purchase a $250,000 home, and the house appreciates a modest 3 percent during the first year. That means after one year, the house would be worth $257,500 – a gain of $7,500. Your annual return on your $10,000 investment would be 75 percent. By contrast, putting the same $10,000 in the stock market and posting a similar 5 percent gain would only net a $500 return on investment. †††
   
   
5. Healthy Interest Rates & Low Inventory Levels:: Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are hovering near 40-year lows! The Huntsville Madison County area inventory of single-family homes remains very healthy compared to national inventory. Healthy inventory provides you with a wide selection of homes to pick from. Buying now may keep you from having to compete for your dream home as inventory shrinks from demand.***††
   
   
6. Healthy Job Growth: Nearly 29,000 jobs have been added to the Huntsville metropolitan area in 2000-2008, thereby leading the state. Population increased by 53,000 over the same time period. Continued steady growth close to 2% is anticipated.†
   
   
7. Healthy Employment: The unemployment rate in Madison County for February 2009 is 6.2% compared to 8.1% across the country.†
   
   
8. Healthy Tax Relief: Homeownership offers you the advantage of tax deductions as well as building equity in your property. A tax credit of up to $8,000 is now available for qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009. Unlike the tax credit enacted in 2008, the new credit does not have to be repaid. **
   
   
9. Healthy National Reviews: Among other accolades, Huntsville has been ranked as one of the country’s “Top 5 Cities for Defense Jobs” (Forbes Magazine, April 2009); “Huntsville Named the Country’s Leading Metro for Consumer Lending Growth” (The Wall Street Journal, March 30, 2009); “The City of Huntsville receives Standard & Poor’s highest possible “AAA” bond rating for strength of the local economy…” (Standard & Poor’s, January 2009); “Madison County Named the Country’s Best Place to Live to Weather the Economy” (Forbes Magazine, November 2008); “Huntsville named one of the Top 50 Best Places to raise children in the U.S.” (Business Week, November 2008). †
   
   
10. Healthy Family Investment: A home is more than a house. It’s a place to raise your family, make memories, and call your own!

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