February was a difficult month nationwide for housing, and Mobile County was not exempt. In the Springhill/ USA area, February saw 11 homes sold for an average of $175,695 ($112.22/sq ft). This is a 24% drop from January. Nineteen pending sales averaging $265,643 ($94.04/ sq ft) is a significant drop from January’s $300,738 average ($113.57/ sq ft).

The Downtown/ Midtown area of Mobile held its own in February, with the average sold home actually increasing from $99,497 ($61.24/ sq ft) in January to $126,449 or $72.59/ sq ft! Values of homes pending sale rose slightly from an average of $104,740 in January to $110,696 in February.

The best news here is clearly for buyers…time to get off the fence and take advantage of prime conditions for homebuying. You have large inventory, low prices and tax incentives! Contact Barbara S. Reeves, REALTOR, to assist you in finding your dream home in Mobile County!

Daphne Utilities now hopes to be able to sell their 19-acre wetlands for $200,000 after abandoning possibilities that they might allow new homes to be built on the parcel.  Three months ago Daphne Utilities considered taking the 19-acres of land near Oak Bluff in Daphne AL and dividing it into three parcels of land for new homes to eventually be built by other developers; they are now interested in selling the property to the city to be developed as a nature preserve.  However, some city council members are looking into the issue more to see if they can purchase the land for less or another agreement can be made.  Daphne’s city council is happy to have the prospect of having this parcel of land dedicated as a wetland preserve, but enforce that it isn’t likely to happen very quickly.

For more information on available homes in Daphne AL or other Gulf Coast real estate in Fairhope, Spanish Fort, Mobile and West Mobile AL contact your local realtor Barbara Reeves via email or by clicking on the “Talk Now” button on this page.

Whether you are looking for a home for the first time or
have gone through the process a dozen times, home buying is an investment worth
making. Because buying a home is such an
incredibly important investment, you should avoid going along without the
information you need to make an informed decision. 

But where do you start? The Inman News source is a great way to keep up to date on the latest
real estate news, and research more than 10 years worth of information and data
on your respective search area. With
special bi-weekly reports that cover important topics in real estate,
technology and mortgage sectors, as well as access to audio archives featuring
industry leaders’ discussions on the current issues at hand, you will not make
a decision you’ll be dissatisfied with. 

Take a look at the features available to you from Inman News
online with a membership here.

Airbus may begin making commercial planes in the States as
reported from the Birmingham News online. Not surprisingly, Mobile Alabama was cited as the most likely plant to
construct these planes (provided they win the Air Force contract). The German company is looking at this option
to lessen the impact of the falling dollar on its company finances; Airbus
prices its planes in dollars but calculates their costs in euros, which has had
a negative impact because of the sharp fall of the dollar this year compared to
the euro. Thus, they have plans to sell some of their Europe operations and open some in the US.

EADS has already established their plans to build an
assembly plant in Mobile if they win the contract to produce tanker aircrafts
for the US Air Force; this $100 billion dollar contract decision is expected to
be determined next year. 

The Mobile Regional Airport may
actually be in Mobile Alabama as votes are in favor of the annexation
plan. Due to a request from the Mobile
Airport Authority to consider annexing the airport into Mobile’s city limits,
and the fact that the Authority owns the property, the City Council can approve
the request without an election or state legislation. The vote was unanimous to support the
annexation of the airport and will likely happen sooner rather than later, as
the paperwork should go more quickly in this circumstance.

The September 18^th vote in
favor of Mobile annexation for west Mobile residents made the airport
annexation possible, as the extension of the city limits touches upon airport
property. The annexation of the airport is
expected to assist the economy of the airport and help the city overall.

Real estate auctions are expected to hit the Gulf Coast in the following
years. With Florida auction companies booked
for this year, Alabama’s Gulf Coast is predicted to see the same activity soon. Although Real Estate Auctions may not sound
like they are likely to help the sluggish condominium sales, they may be just
the thing for the Gulf Coast. In
addition to bettering the market for condos, firms are looking favorably at real
estate auctions to reduce their listings by getting the sales activities moving
again on the some 2,788 condominium units for sale on the Gulf Coast.

For more information on Gulf Coast real estate contact Barbara Reeves by
email or via the “Talk Now” button below.

Daphne Alabama is going to have a few additions in the near
future if the Daphne Beautification Committee has anything to say about
it. The committee came up with a top 10
list of areas that could use ‘beautifying,’ mostly involving landscaping. Potential areas of beautification include the
placement of “Welcome to Daphne” signs, utility boxes throughout Daphne, and
landscaping improvements at Gator Alley including new fencing and carved
animals atop the fencing. Other areas of
improvement include a few highways, restaurant locations, and areas that could
be spruced up.  The list will be looked
over and re-prioritized according to immediate need and budget. Funds for the beautification will be taken
from the appropriate departments in public works and recreation.

This beautification is good news for Daphne homeowners or
potential homebuyers as it shows Daphne as a place where improvement is key. While the beautification process will take
time, the results of this Committee’s efforts will make Daphne an even better
place to live.

Developers of the much debated Semmes Subdivision are
scaling back their original proposal as indicated in a news release
yesterday. This Fairhope firm was
initially looking to develop a 523-lot subdivision called Hopkinton Estates,
but has scaled back to only 133 lots with 166 acres left undeveloped.

Most of the complaints about the original plans dealt with
the subdivision being too dense for the area and possibly leading to traffic
congestion on the narrow roads and overcrowding in the local schools. The scale back changes made will still allow
for future development on the remaining acres, but it will need to be approved
each step of the way. The Planning
Commission is expected to vote on the new development plans in their next
meeting on December 20^th.

The beautiful Gulf Shores of Alabama are becoming even more
friendly for potential homebuyers. According
to a recent article in the Press-Register online, a new subdivision is being
built off Baldwin County 9. There will
be 19 single-family lots featured which include a boat slip, and other
waterfront lot options on their way. The
Cottages subdivision at Fish River is open to all builders according to
developer Robert Clark. Being close to
the Gulf is only one advantage of the Cottages, which also boasts no insurance
issues or traffic. This subdivision at
Fish River is just one example of the many options for living in Alabama’s Gulf
Coast region.

For more information on Gulf
Coast Homes and property contact experienced Realtor Barbara Reeves at Barbara@BarbaraReevesRealtor.com
or by clicking the “Talk Now” button below.

According to a private research group’s study, Mobile is the
safest larger populated city in Alabama. As a unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc., CQ Press published their 14^th
annual “City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America,” in a recent issue. The study was based on a private analysis of
the annual FBI crime statistics report given this past September. The results of the analysis revealed Mobile
ranked well as being one of the safest cities in Alabama.

Although not everyone is convinced of the legitimacy of the
study performed on the statistics, Mobile has hired more officers and has been
dedicated to quicker response times to emergency calls over the past few years,
making it a safer place to live for all residents.