The housing market in Anchorage remains robust, despite high prices, escalating building costs and steadily increasing interest rates. However. the pace of home building–particularly with single-family houses–is slowing down. Now some people are wondering if the residential market has peaked and if prices will plummet. But perhaps the million-dollar question is: Will the bottom drop out

of Alaska’s housing market. as it did in the 1980s? The consensus among local experts is that the residential housing market is not headed for a drastic downturn. And the boom-bust scenario that played out in the ’80s isn’t likely to happen again. According to state economist Neil Fried, the economic environment is very different now than in the ’80s. And in fact, many of the national housing markets have been hotter than Alaska’s, he said.

“Unlike the rest of the country, we had a giant real estate overhang,” Fried added. “We had a tremendous amount of inventory that was built in the ’80s and was being absorbed in the ’90s.”

Economic Climate of the ’80s

The ’80s was a time of tremendous growth, due to an influx of North Slope oil revenue into the state treasury. The era also spawned what Realtor Niel Thomas described as the “perfect real estate storm.” Three significant factors converged to throw Alaska’s real estate market into chaos. The state was spending massive amounts of money on capital construction projects, including a new library, civic center, sports arena and performing arts center.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 disadvantaged real estate as a form of investment, leading to bank failures nationwide. And faltering world oil prices caused an oil bust in.

The Alabama housing market as a whole, and in Tuscaloosa County, both improved in February compared with the first month of the year, and it is also doing better than a year ago, the Tuscaloosa News reports.Existing home sales in Alabama totaled 4,069 in February, a 14.7 percent jump compared to January’s total of 3,547, according to the University of Alabama’s Real Estate Research and Education Center.

The average selling price of $155,632 in February was 3.3 percent higher than in January, the center reported.

Statewide, fewer homes sold in February this year than in February 2006 and more homes were listed. But the average selling price was higher and the average number of days that homes were on the market was down.

In Tuscaloosa County, existing home sales in February totaled 168, well above the 128 sold in January, and the number of days on market was also down, from 139 to 135.

But even as Alabama home loan rates remained low, 1,689 homes were listed, 58 more than in January, and the average selling price was $165,863, a drop of about $6,000.

In February 2006, existing home sales in Tuscaloosa County totaled 151 units, the selling price averaged $168,387 and 1,358 homes were on the market for 140 days on average. The Birmingham housing market has been equally steaedy.

Although the indicators were mixed, if the market continues at this rate, this year should be as good as, or better than, last year for the Alabama mortgage market, according to the center.

• At the national level, existing home sales rose in February by 3.9 percent to 6.69 million units.
• The national median home price dropped to $212,800, a decrease of 1.3 percent.
• New home sales fell by 3.9 percent to 848,000 units sold.
• New home prices rose by 2.2 percent to $245,500.

Housing starts, which usually indicate future market activity, increased by a solid 9 percent in February to reach 1.525 million units, boosting the confidence of financial markets embroiled in bad credit mortgage turmoil.

National housing starts are, however, 28 percent lower than a year ago.