Huntsville Realtor Tim Knox said real estate agents are feeling a little bit nervous these days in the Huntsville area.

“We kind of got a little spoiled last year,” said Knox, who is with Leading Edge Real Estate Group. “When the feeding frenzy was going on here, even the worst house would sell within hours. We would get multiple offers, cash offers way over asking price.

“Agents got so used to houses flying off the market,” he added.

That isn’t the case anymore. According to data from ValleyMLS put out by the Huntsville Area Association of Realtors, home sales continued to fall below 2022 levels across the board in the Huntsville market (which includes Madison and Madison County), the Athens market (which includes all of Limestone County) and the Decatur market (which includes Morgan and Lawrence counties).

“It looks like the housing market is softening given that the average sales price is flat or declining in most markets, number of homes sold is flat or down in most markets, days on market are up in most markets,” said Bennie Waller, William Carey Hulsey Faculty Fellow for the University of Alabama’s Department of Economics. “However, it does appear that most markets are enjoying an increase in inventory. If mortgage rates would only cooperate, this would benefit greatly the housing market, particularly for buyers.”

Instead, the interest rate is chasing some buyers, according to Knox and Realtor Matt Curtis.