The reality of realty is not as bleak locally as recent national news headlines suggest, according to area real estate professionals who say the Cullman housing market is strong.

“It’s been a little slow, but it’s not nearly what the national media makes us think that it is,” said Cindy Dyer of Crye-Leike Realty Inc. in Cullman.

The cover of the Sept. 24 edition of Time suggested otherwise. The magazine posed this question: “Will the real estate bust cause a recession?” Less than a month earlier, in the magazine’s Aug. 27 issue, the cover promoted a story on “How Wall Street caused the housing mess.”

According to the Sept. 24 article, the average home sits on the market for 9.6 months, more than twice the time it took to sell a house two years ago.

However, Rita Tucker, broker and co-owner of Alabama First Realty, said this is hardly the case in Cullman.

In fact she said this has been her best year ever.

“We’re selling them as quick as they’re getting done,” she said. “We’re not having one bit of problem.”

Doom-and-gloom housing market headlines have, however, caused alarm among some buyers and sellers, Cullman Real Estate broker Kay Whaley said.

“I’ve had people tell me they thought house values had just dropped, and they haven’t,” she said. “I really don’t think things are that bad. I think it’s just that people are scared because of what they see on TV.”

In fact, Whaley said home values in Cullman are continuing to rise at the same time it is falling in other markets, particularly in larger cities — especially those on the West Coast.

BJC Real Estate’s Randle Weeks said he is not alarmed by the decreasing value of houses in larger markets where analysts have long warned of housing bubbles ready to burst.

“I see that as a market adjustment, just like we see in the stock market,” he said.

Neal Culpepper, owner of Culpepper Realty, attributes Cullman County’s healthy housing market to the diversity of the economy.

“Traditionally, Cullman doesn’t feel the booms nor the busts of what they feel nationally,” said Culpepper, who added that like real estate, the county’s location has been a major asset for attracting new industry.

“Being sandwiched halfway between Birmingham and Huntsville has a lot to do with that,” he said.

Weeks also believes economic diversity is key to the strength of the area’s housing market.

“I think our market is still very strong and don’t see any immediate reasons for alarm,” Weeks said.

However, he agreed with Whaley that the national news is having an effect locally because of the perceptions it creates.

“What people see on the 5 o’clock news — those things impact people, just the fact that it’s making news,” said Weeks.

Julie Lang also said the bad news about housing has caused concern for her customers.

“It causes people to be cautious and worry, and I don’t think that’s the way it should be in this market,” the real estate agent with White Dove Realty said.

In fact, Lang said the only housing headache she has is not having enough homes to put on the market.

“I have buyers who are looking, and we don’t have enough houses to sell,” she said. “I’m looking for them a home and it’s not out there.”

Although real estate pros say it’s business as usual in Cullman County, Whaley said the subprime loan crisis will ultimately affect the business of buying and selling homes nationwide.

According to an article on WSJ.com, the Wall Street Journal’s Web site, “Foreclosure rates on subprime loans — those made to borrowers with poor credit records — more than doubled last year from 2005.”

Whaley said in the last five to 10 years, creative home loan programs “made it so that everyone could get 100 percent financing or better.”

The result, she said, is that many who were financially unqualified for home ownership because of weak credit ratings were able to buy homes they could not afford.

“We could get them into a house, but they couldn’t stay because they never were truly qualified to buy it,” she said. “I think we’re just going to go back to selling houses to people who truly qualified by the old method.”

DRY HOUSING MARKET

Lakefront property has not been affected as much by housing market woes as it has by this summer’s drought.

“It’s hard to sell lake property when there’s no lake,” said Whaley, whose business sign currently advertises Smith Lake homes with year-round water. “I think that came to a screeching halt because people who buy emotionally don’t buy when they don’t see the water.”

Tucker agreed. “Smith Lake is not as active as it was because of the water.”

Weeks, who specializes in the Smith Lake market, said, “On the lake, when we’re talking with prospective buyers and sellers, they’re not talking about the housing market. They’re talking about the water level.”

Whaley said she does not see any reason for the difficulty to last.

“When the Lord decides to let it rain, then everything will be back to the way it was,” she said.

Culpepper said the drought has not dried up the Smith Lake housing market as much as many think.

Weeks said the low water level is a great opportunity for both savvy buyers and sellers with properties near deep water.

“The lake levels minimize the competition for those deep water properties,” he said, adding it allows homebuyers to “see exactly where the water is.”

LOCATION, LOCATION

Although real estate professionals shied away from specifying what areas of Cullman County are real estate hot spots, they gave high grades to areas located near good schools.

“People ask when they’re moving in, ‘How strong are your schools?’” Culpepper said.

Weeks said school reputation “makes the Cullman City School area a high-demand area.”

Dyer agreed.

“For those people with young children in school the city has a draw,” she said.s

“School districts impact demand in our market,” said Weeks, who added because of the education factor “The Good Hope market has been real strong.”

Culpepper said low crime is also a determining factor for most home buyers.

“We have a strong school system and a good police force. That’s always good,” he said.

SIZE MATTERS

Most real estate agents say medium sized homes priced below $150,000 are popular among buyers.

“I think size is not necessarily the driving force now,” Weeks said. “People just want nice, upscale finishes.”

As a result, he said buyers are thinking smaller.

“It’s hard to have both,” Weeks said about housing costs.

“People had rather sacrifice size for very nice.”

“We see a lot of people downsizing,” said Dyer, who added consumers now want “less upkeep and less house to take care of.”

Weeks said he is seeing more demand for garden homes with minimal maintenance, some for which landscaping is done for them for a monthly fee.

Because of the trend toward smaller, low maintenance homes, Weeks said home builders may be constructing smaller homes in the future.

“Builders are going to respond to the demand of the consumer,” he said.