More people interested in being Huntsville Realtors

The Huntsville Times had this fascinating story that gives a glimpes into the future real estate market in Huntsville more on the story

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As BRAC nears, area sees a 'steady flow' of new agents

When more than 4,000 jobs were announced in 2005 to be moving to Huntsville through the Pentagon's base realignment process, many saw it as an opportunity to profit from what was already a growing local housing market.

"I think we have a lot of big expectations for Hunts-ville," said Steve Cawthon, Realtor for Century 21 Steele & Associates and member of the Alabama Real Estate Commission. "Everybody's getting into (real estate) because of BRAC."

The number of Realtors in Alabama has nearly doubled since 2000 to 14,643 in 2007, according to the National Association of Realtors. About 2,000 of those Realtors are in Madison County, said Doris Nurenburg, CEO of the Huntsville Area Association of Realtors. Nurenburg said membership numbers are up, but historic data were not available last week.

"It's like everything else in Huntsville," she said. "We're not knocking the cover off the ball, we're just slowly, steadily increasing."

News of a national slowdown in home sales hasn't discouraged people from seeking careers in real estate, said Walter Molony, NAR's senior public affairs associate. Membership has grown from 767,000 in 2000 to a high of 1.35 million in 2006, then dropping slightly to 1.32 million.

While some markets are foundering, others, such as Huntsville's, have remained relatively stable, Molony said.

"It all gets down to location," he said. "Some places are up, even though the U.S. as a whole is down."

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