Buyers in the Auburn-Opelika area closed on 273 homes in July, the busiest month of 2026 so far, according to the Alabama Center for Real Estate’s monthly Lee County report, developed with the Lee County Association of Realtors.
That is 6.2% more closings than in June and 2.6% more than in July 2025, when 257 homes sold. It was the fourth straight month of rising volume after a slow winter — January saw just 123 closings.
Prices held up. The area’s median sales price was $399,000, up 2.3% from June and 3.5% from a year ago. Homes took a median of 55 days to sell, two days slower than July 2025 but four days faster than June.
Inventory keeps climbing
The number moving fastest is supply. There were 937 active listings at the end of July, 3.7% more than in June and 33.9% more than in July 2025. Inventory has risen every month this year, from 683 in January.
At July’s sales pace, that inventory would take 3.4 months to sell — down slightly from 3.5 months in June, but up sharply from 2.6 months in July 2025. ACRE puts rough equilibrium between buyers and sellers at about six months of supply, so the market is still tighter than balanced. What has changed year over year is choice: a third more homes to pick from, and sellers waiting a little longer for a contract.
New construction cuts both ways
Builders accounted for 102 of July’s 273 sales, or 37.4% of the market — a 25.9% jump from June, but 11.3% fewer new-home sales than in July 2025. The new-construction median price was $446,037, about $47,000 above the overall market median and up 11.2% year over year. In short: the new homes that do sell are selling for more, while fewer of them sell than a year ago.
That matters locally because Opelika is in the middle of a self-imposed pause on new residential approvals. On a 4–1 vote in February, the City Council adopted a temporary moratorium on approvals for residential subdivisions and multi-dwelling projects. By its own terms it took effect May 1, 2026 and runs through April 30, 2027, unless the council extends, modifies or repeals it. The ordinance exempts permit applications already filed, conditional-use and preliminary-plat approvals granted before the effective date, projects under binding development agreements, plans conforming to an approved PUD, developments outside the city limits not seeking annexation, essential repairs, and mobile-home replacements in existing parks. During the pause, the Planning Commission is directed to study the effect of multi-dwelling development on city services, review zoning and design standards, hold public outreach and return with recommendations.
Ahead for the month, behind for the year
July beat ACRE’s own forecast: the center had projected 255 sales and the area recorded 273, a 7.1% overshoot. The year-to-date picture is the reverse — 1,455 sales through July against a 1,575 projection, or 7.6% below plan, with the winter slowdown still weighing on the annual total.
Three things to watch from here: whether inventory keeps climbing into the fall, which would eventually pull on prices; what the Planning Commission recommends before the moratorium lapses next April; and whether builders keep raising prices while selling fewer homes.
Monthly county figures move on small samples — a few dozen closings can shift a median. Nothing here is investment or financial advice, and no figure substitutes for an appraisal or a conversation with a local agent or lender.
Sources: Alabama Center for Real Estate, “Lee County home sales up 2.6% year-over-year in July” (published Aug. 31, 2026) and its monthly Lee County reports for January–June 2026; City of Opelika moratorium ordinance and the city’s 2026–2027 Moratorium page; The Opelika Observer’s Feb. 17, 2026 report on the council vote.
Download: ODN Lee County Real Estate Market Report — July 2026 data (PDF)
Research for this story was AI-assisted; every figure was checked against the source named beside it and reviewed by editor Jerry Katz. Corrections: jerry@opelikadailynews.com
