Fort Payne Says It Needs More Housing. So Why Are Homes Waiting Longer for Buyers?

In September 2026, the average DeKalb County home that sold through ValleyMLS had been on the market for 74 days. In July it was 49. In the same stretch, the Fort Payne City Council approved a new residential zoning district. Supporters argued for it because the city needs more housing.

Both things are true. The shortage people talk about at City Hall is a shortage of one kind of house at one price. The slower resale market involves a different set of houses. If you're comparing Fort Payne with other North Alabama towns, that gap explains how this market behaves right now. Sellers are holding their prices, and waiting is how the market adjusts.

Four Months of DeKalb County Numbers

The Huntsville Area Association of Realtors posts monthly Fast Stats from ValleyMLS, and DeKalb County has its own section. Here's how summer and early fall 2026 played out:

Sources: June, July, August and September reports from HAAR.

The median moves around but keeps landing between about $235,000 and $263,000. Homes on the market rose from 208 in June to 239 in September. Sales jumped from 30 in August to 42 in September, and average days on market rose 14 days over the same month. So more homes closed, but they had been listed longer.

Here's a simple way to read it. At September's pace of 42 sales, the 239 homes on the market would take about five and a half months to sell. At August's pace of 30, it would take closer to eight. Either way, buyers have plenty to choose from.

The year-over-year numbers point the same way. In August 2026, DeKalb sold 30 homes, down from 41 in August 2025. The median rose from $245,000 to $255,000, and homes on the market went from 222 to 231. In July, sales slipped from 40 to 36 while the median rose from $246,000 to $263,000. Fewer sales with steady or higher prices means sellers aren't cutting prices to move homes. They're waiting longer instead.

The Case for More Housing

The council's debate over the new district gives a good picture of what "shortage" means locally. The Times-Journal reported on the public comment session that came before the vote. Brett Johnson of the DeKalb County Economic Development Authority told the council that employment in the city had grown by an average of 300 jobs a year over the past four years. He added that Fort Payne's cost of living is nearly 20 percent below the national average. He pointed to the Elevate DeKalb strategic economic plan, which calls for a range of market-rate workforce housing to keep current employers staffed and to house workers for future ones.

Earlier, at a hearing on a separate subdivision proposal, Mayor Brian Baine said Fort Payne needs more housing, according to Times-Journal coverage of that meeting. The same article reports that a city housing study by Goodwin, Mills and Cawood recommended incentives for developers and found a need for better housing options.

The case is about jobs and the workers who fill them. It doesn't claim that Fort Payne lacks houses for sale. It says the city lacks enough of the right homes, at prices workers can manage, in the places builders are willing to build.

The Price Gap Between New and Existing Homes

Code Enforcement Officer Nick Brown laid out the builders' side. Developers have told the city that rising costs make lower-density development unprofitable, the Times-Journal reported. That's why the new district exists. It lets builders fit more homes on a tract, which spreads the cost of land, roads and sewer across more lots.

What those homes cost shows up in the same coverage:

• During public comment, an audience member said new 1,500-square-foot homes on Godfrey Avenue were being marketed at $300,000.
• For The Grove at 3600 Godfrey Avenue North, Northcutt Real Estate said homes would be listed at about $319,000. The company also said road construction alone would cost about $150,000.
• In September 2026, DeKalb County's median sale price was $255,000.

The developer had asked to rezone The Grove so it could go from 18 lots to 24. At the Feb. 3 hearing, no council member made a motion. The property stayed R-1, and the company would have to start the rezoning process over to try again.

New homes in Fort Payne are coming in roughly $45,000 to $65,000 above the county's typical sale. That gap holds even when builders squeeze in more lots. So the "shortage" is a shortage of new homes near the median price. New construction can't hit that price easily, and the existing homes near it are the ones taking longer to sell.

During the same public comment session, one resident said there were about 850 vacant housing units in Fort Payne. Another speaker asked how many of them are livable as they stand and how many need serious repair. Those were comments from the floor, not a city count. Still, the question they raise is the right one for a buyer. A home's condition affects its value as much as the number of bedrooms does.

Why Time Moves Before Price

Most sellers start from what the house down the street sold for, or what they paid plus improvements. Cutting the price feels like losing money. Waiting feels like nothing, at least for a while. So when there are fewer buyers, a small market like this one doesn't respond with lower prices right away. Homes just sit longer.

New construction props up that patience. When a brand-new house a few miles away is listed around $300,000, an older house at $255,000 looks like a bargain on paper. That keeps owners of existing homes from cutting. The buyer's question is different. Will the $255,000 house need $30,000 of work before it feels like that new one? A seller who prices off new construction can leave out the cost of repairs, and a buyer has to add it back.

The 74-day average in September shows that tension playing out. Prices haven't fallen, but more homes are sitting long enough that buyers have room to negotiate.

What R-1A Changes, and What It Doesn't

The new district passed 3–2. Council members Richard Camp, Todd Simpson and Mike Grant voted for it, and John Smith and Beau Genelin voted against, according to the Times-Journal's council report. R-1A fits between low-density R-1 and medium-density R-2. Its rules:

1. Lots of at least 10,500 square feet, the same minimum as R-2.
2. Homes of at least 1,100 square feet, the same as R-1.
3. As the planning commission approved it, a tract has to be at least three acres and connect to city sewer to be rezoned R-1A.

The district gives builders an option. It doesn't add any houses until someone applies to rezone a specific tract and then builds on it. Homes built under it would show up in the market well after this fall. For anyone buying in the next few months, the homes available are the ones already in the table above.

What This Means When You're Comparing Towns

Across the full ValleyMLS area, the September 2026 median was $305,000. In DeKalb it was $255,000. In August, the HAAR report called DeKalb one of the most accessible markets in its area for first-time buyers and investors. The lower entry price is real. The bigger advantage right now may be time.

• Expect more room to negotiate on homes that have been listed a while. A listing that has sat past the county's 74-day average in September 2026 may belong to a seller who's ready to talk.
• Use new construction as your comparison. If a resale home's asking price plus the repairs it needs comes close to the $300,000 to $319,000 new homes have been marketed at, the new home may be the better buy.
• Inspect for condition before anything else. In a market where some existing homes are taking longer to sell, the inspection report tells you whether a lower price is a good deal or a reflection of real problems.

Quick Answers

Are home prices falling in Fort Payne? Not in DeKalb County's ValleyMLS figures. The median was $255,000 in both August and September 2026, up from $245,000 in August 2025.

Does the new R-1A zone mean cheaper new homes soon? It lets builders put more homes on a qualifying tract, which can lower the cost per lot. The zone itself doesn't set prices or start construction.

Is September's jump in sales a turnaround? Sales rose from 30 to 42 between August and September 2026, but the homes that sold had been listed longer on average. Look at a few more months of data before treating it as a trend.

If you're weighing a Fort Payne home against a new build, or wondering whether a listing that has sat for a while has room on price, Valley Real Estate Co. can go through the recent sales near that specific house and help you decide what to offer. Let's Make Your Move.