Chattahoochee State Park

Location – southeastern Houston County, right on the Chattahoochee River and the Florida state line.

Drive time from Dothan – around 30–40 minutes from just about anywhere around town

Cost – $2 per person, $1 for kids and seniors. $2 per person for fishing, kids 12 and under free. Camping and RV hook-up available, as well as a small charge for horses

Amenities – Swimming and fishing, lots of picnic and play areas

Best advice – if you go during the summer, take some bug spray. Watch out for poison ivy!

Website – Houston County Parks – Chattahoochee

Built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, Chattahoochee State Park contains nearly 600 acres of south Alabama nature at its best. Despite the name, the park is now maintained by Houston County, which has performed several upgrades to the park, including an hunting area for the handicapped. The twenty acre lake was also restocked after the county took it over. CC Pond, as my dad used to call it, has in the past been a great fishing spot. The Alabama State record for Shell Cracker was caught in the lake back in 1962. The park includes primitive camping areas, a RV camping site, wildflower areas, and a 20 area lake. The park also has a designated horse trailer parking area, picnic areas, swimming, fishing as well as the hiking and horseback trails.

There are many remnants of the long abandoned CCC camp still around, including a fireplace, a flag pole area, goldfish pond, and other features. The history of the Civilian Conservation Corps, began in the early 1930’s as part of President Roosevelt’s plan to put young men to work during the depression, is an interesting one. If anyone knows of any other projects the CCC had in our area, I would be very interested in hearing about them. Let us all know by commenting below!

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Items approved include a recommendation to rezone 0.87 acre at the corner of Third Avenue and Trim Street from M-1 (manufacturing) to R-50–S (residential). Pending rezoning approval by the Dothan City Commission, this parcel will be divided into six residential lots for home building. The other two items, both approved, were the expansion of an animal hospital on South Oates Street and re-plat of a small parcel on North Herring Street.

A proposed new zoning, designated O-2A, was presented to the commission by the planning office. The new zone could by used in situtations similar to a denied request last month, where residential property adjoins high traffic, more commercial areas. The home or property that was looked at last month is on the corner of Ross Clark Circle and Kent Drive. It is basically uninhabitable as a residence because it is so close to a major roadway, but the neighbors objected to it being rezoned because current zoning left too many possibilities of businesses that could locate there. This new zoning would fix a problem that effects several areas around Dothan.

The Dothan Eagle has some more details on the proposed O-2A zoning. The Planning Commission will vote on this next month, and if approved, it will go to the full Dothan City Commission for a vote.

Tags: Dothan+Planning+Commission, Dothan+real+estate+development

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Home sales

Prediction – down 10% from 2007
Actual year-to-date – down 12.4% in units, 9.1% in volume

Nothing surprising about this stat. Pending sales are strong, so I’ll stick to this prediction.

Homes on the market

Prediction – remain steady between 850 – 950 units
Actual – inventory today is 956 single family homes

I may have underestimated this one by a bit. Inventory in other areas of the country is steady to falling, so I am going to revise my prediction and say that the number of homes for sale in the Dothan area will hover between 920 and 980 for the rest of 2008.

Mortgage rates

Prediction – steady around 6% with less than 0.5% fluctuation
Actual – today’s rates are around 6.25%

The only change I will make here is to say that there is a far greater likelihood of rates being closer to 6.5% at the end of the year than under 6%.

Foreclosures

Prediction – upward trend
Actual – steady to slightly up

Up until May, the number of homes in foreclosure in Alabama had dropped significantly. Then June came and they jumped 22%. The upward trend will likely continue, if for no other reason than the overall weak economy.

New Construction

Prediction – housing starts in Dothan down
Actual – housing starts in Dothan down

We nailed this one. There were 178 residential new construction permits issued in the first six months of 2007, compared to 133 so far in 2008.

Median Price

Prediction – down
Actual – no change

The median price of homes sold in the Dothan area in 2007 was $135,000, and the median price so far in 2008 is exactly the same. I still think we will end the year with a slightly lower median.

The overall Dothan real estate market is sound, especially when compared to some other markets around the country. Expect the remainder of 2008 to be much the same as the first half.

What are your thoughts on the real estate market here in the Dothan area? What do you see happening in the future? Chime in by commenting below!

Tags: Dothan+real+estate+market

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The 87 homes listed in pending status in the Dothan MLS is the highest monthly total since March, and the second highest since April of 2007, over a year ago. Since pending sales are considered the prime indicator of future market activity, the Dothan real estate market looks to be in good shape for at least the next few months.

Sales sagged a bit in June, but it was still the second biggest month so far this year. It will be interesting to see how the next couple of months shape up, as July and August typically begin the late summer into fall seasonal slowdown.

If you are reading this and wondering if it is a good time to buy or sell a home in Dothan, then we need to talk. Pick up the phone and call me at the office, 334–793–6990, or on my cell, 334–596–0808. I’m not going to give you a hard sell or anything like that, we will just talk about your situation and try to figure out what is best for you right now. Sound fair?

Tags: Dothan+real+estate, homes+sales+in+Dothan

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Monday Market Snapshot - July 14, 2008

Tomorrow, we’ll have our monthly report on home sales in and around Dothan, as well as a look back at our 2008 predictions for the Dothan real estate market, and how they’re holding up through the first half of the year.

Homes on the market stat is the total of single family residential properties currently listed for sale. All statistical information is from the Dothan Multiple Listing Service (Dothan MLS) and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

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Wachovia eliminates “Pick-your-payment” loans, eliminating all loans that can lead to higher balances over time.

U.S. Home Construction hits 17 year low - Goes along with our most recent Dothan new homes and construction report

Statewide Home Sales down 23% -  Home sales in Dothan are not down quite as much. Look for a mid-year Dothan real estate market update early next week.

Economists say Alabama economy not following national trend because it will grow by 1/2 of one percent in 2008.

Dothan City School Board approves new zoning plan - lots of changes coming…we’ll cover them on Wednesday on next week

New bicycle and walking trails coming to Dothan

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Here is the trend over the last twelve months.

Inventory of new construction homes on the market remains steady. There are currently 221 listed in the Dothan area MLS, up slightly from last month. The median price of these listed homes is $199,900, over $60,000 more than the overall market median which is around $135,000. Average days on the market is 196 days.

Is the long-term trend any better? Maybe. The new home market in Dothan hopefully bottomed out around the first of this year.

What does all this information mean to you? If you are in the market for a new home, then you have a lot of choices and some bargaining power, especially in higher price ranges.

If you have an interest in building or purchasing a new construction home, give me a call or use the contact form. As a Certified New Homes Specialist (CNHS), I have extensive training in the new home market and would be happy to consult with you on your real estate needs.

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Total homes on the market in and around Dothan
959

Median list price
$175,000

Average price per square foot
$97.37

Average days on market
160

Least expensive listing
$10,000

Most expensive listing
$2,500,000

Pending sales
161

Sold – last 7 days
38

If there is another stat related to the Dothan real estate market that you would like to see on this weekly list, let us know by commenting below.

These statistics are from the Dothan Multiple Listing Service (Dothan MLS) for the period of June 30,2008 through July 6, 2008, and are considered reliable, but not guaranteed. Stats are for single family residential only.

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The first event last year exceeded all expectations in attendance, which created a few problems, including parking and trash pickup. Those problems will be fixed for the second addition of the event. Both the north and south parking lots at the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds will be open, and Dothan Police will be directing traffic this year. Also, there is a concert scheduled for after the fireworks, which will hopefully prevent the mad rush to leave that was experienced last year.

If you are going to be in Dothan on July 4^th, this is a must attend event. The fireworks show itself is worth the nominal charge ($5 in advance, $8 at the gate). Remember, all kids under 12 are admitted free, and bring your lawn chairs and blankets!

Tags: Dothan+Alabama+events, Fourth+of+July

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Inventory

The number of homes for sale in the Dothan area is knocking on 1000. A good neutral market would be around 600. We got as low as 450 in 2005. It is amazing to see how this market has turned in under three years. I don’t expect us to hit the 1000 homes mark, but it could happen. As I posted last week, sales have remained steady, so inventory should do the same.

Absorption rate

The absorption rate for June is down again to 8.97 months, which is the lowest since last summer. For those of you just joining us, this means that there is about a nine month supply of homes on the market, based on current inventory and sales figures from the past three months. The trend is definitely downward, and that is a good sign that the Dothan real estate market is healthy.

Inventory and absorption rates can vary between different areas around Dothan. If you would like to see these numbers for a particular area, drop us an email or leave a comment below with your request!

Tags: absorption+rate, Dothan, real+estate+market

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