i agree w/ chad... we live here in alabaster and have gone thru this personally. most everything is down 5-23%--- depending on location, age and comps. not much has increased in our area in the last 6-8 months. most homes have returned to values we had a year or so ago. even so agents, nor sellers set the price--the market sets the price regardless of what we want or need out of a sale. appraisers will only look at comps/solds for the last 3-6 months--so that may be less than a year ago likely... please let me know if you need more details or data to help you all.--thanks, Tim Mitchell---205-305-8756-- http://-www.timmitchellsells.com

Unfortunately, in the current market average home prices in the Alabaster are down a little in the past year. I would not expect a new appraisal to come in any higher than one last year. At best, it may come in around the same value depending on recent sales in your neighborhood. Going forward that should change as market conditions improve. The Birmingham area is predicted to have a quicker recovery from the recent downturn than other markets around the country. Don't get discouraged....things will get better, sooner rather than later in my opinion.