Mobile, Alabama Real Estate Market 2026: Score 75, Up 24 Points, GRM 12.5

Mobile, Alabama scores 75 out of 100 on the PropertyIQ index as of February 2026.

Six months ago, that score was 51. The move from 51 to 75 in six months is a +24-point gain, one of the larger score increases in the PropertyIQ dataset over that timeframe. It reflects a Gulf Coast market moving from neutral to positive territory across multiple data signals simultaneously.

PropertyIQ scores Mobile a 75 out of 100 as of February 28, 2026. Scores are updated monthly using Zillow, Census, and Realtor.com data.

Why Mobile Alabama Real Estate Is Scoring Higher

The six-month score trajectory for Mobile: 51 in August 2025, 57, 60, 65, 68, 64, 75 in February 2026. The general direction is up with one minor dip, and the February reading represents the highest score in the trailing twelve months.

The number that most directly explains the score is the overvaluation reading: -8.3% as of February 2026. Mobile home prices are 8.3% below what local income fundamentals would support in a fully priced market. The calculated affordable home price is $218,660 based on the metro median household income of $58,119. The Zillow home value is $189,889.

Home prices in Mobile are priced below their own affordability floor. That is a market where fundamentals are not stretched and where price pressure is more likely to come from catching up to affordable levels than from correcting away from an overvalued position.

The income required to buy at the median listing price of $266,648 is $70,874 per year. The income-to-buy ratio is 1.22. A household earning $12,755 above the metro median can reach the median listing price.

Mobile Alabama Housing Market: Price and Appreciation Data

The median listing price in Mobile is $266,648 as of February 1, 2026. The Zillow home value is $189,889 as of January 31, 2026. The gap between listing price and the Zillow value reflects the upper tier of the listing pool pulling the median higher, while the Zillow figure tracks the broader transaction base including lower-priced activity.

Year-over-year appreciation is 2.56% as of February 2026. The five-year appreciation rate is 25.75%.

The Zillow one-year price forecast is 1.3% as of December 2025. The sale-to-list ratio is 98.52% as of November 2025.

The price per square foot is $149 as of February 2026. At $149 per square foot, Mobile represents one of the lower entry cost points in the dataset for a metro with a population above 400,000.

The unemployment rate is 3.3% as of November 2025. At 3.3%, Mobile's labor market is tight. Low unemployment supports household income stability, which supports both rental demand and buyer qualification capacity.

Mobile Real Estate: Rent and Cash Flow Analysis

The Zillow rent index for Mobile is $1,269 per month as of December 2025. At a Zillow home value of $189,889, the gross rent multiplier is approximately 12.5.

A GRM of 12.5 places Mobile in favorable territory for cash flow analysis. Investors use the GRM as a rough filter: markets below 15 warrant deeper analysis for cash flow potential, while markets above 20 typically require a premium purchase price that compresses current yields.

The income required to afford Mobile rents without exceeding a 30% cost burden is approximately $50,757 per year. The metro median household income is $58,119. Most working households in Mobile can access rental housing without significant cost strain. Renters who are not cost-burdened have lower turnover rates and fewer payment disruptions, which is a favorable operating environment for landlords.

New construction sales were 31 units per month as of November 2025. Limited new construction in a market with rising scores and tightening inventory is a structural factor supporting pricing.

The Zillow rent for houses metric shows 51 data points, reflecting a functioning rental market across the metro with sufficient transaction history for reliable trend analysis.

Mobile Alabama Market Conditions

Active inventory is 1,244 homes as of February 2026, down 2.47% year over year. New listings are 518, down 9.44% year over year. Supply is modestly tightening.

Pending listings are 541. The pending ratio is 0.43. Homes spend an average of 76 days on market as of February 2026. The 76-day DOM reflects a longer sales cycle than high-demand Midwest markets, which is typical for Gulf Coast metros where buyer pools are more regionally concentrated and the pace of activity is slower than in markets with stronger in-migration.

Price reductions affect 14.85% of active listings. The price-cut rate is elevated relative to high-scoring markets, but in context of a market that is undervalued and rising, it reflects a listing mix where sellers from prior market cycles are still calibrating to where buyers will actually transact rather than distressed forced selling.

The hotness score is 25.8, the supply score is 30.1, and the demand score is 21.4. These component scores are lower than the composite PropertyIQ score of 75, which reflects that the PropertyIQ model incorporates valuation, economic, and forecast signals in addition to the activity-based hotness metrics.

How Mobile Compares to Other Gulf Coast Markets

The Gulf Coast Florida markets have struggled. Tampa scores 47. Pensacola scores 28. Fort Lauderdale scores 13. The common factor across underperforming Gulf Coast Florida markets is overvaluation combined with rising inventory.

Mobile's differentiation is its price level relative to income. At $190K Zillow value and $58K median income, Mobile has not reached the pricing stress levels visible in Florida Gulf Coast metros. The 25.75% five-year appreciation brought Mobile values up from a lower base, but that base was low enough that the resulting prices remain accessible.

Birmingham, Alabama and Mobile represent the two main Alabama markets in the PropertyIQ dataset. Birmingham offers a larger metro with a broader employment base. Mobile offers lower entry prices and a port economy that provides industrial employment diversity.

The Population and Economic Context

The Mobile metro population is 413,162 as of 2023 Census data. The Port of Mobile is the 12th largest port in the United States by tonnage, a significant economic anchor that provides a stable logistics and industrial employment base. Port-adjacent markets tend to have employment profiles that are less vulnerable to the tech and finance sector cycles that have driven volatility in other markets.

The median age is 38.4 years. The homeownership rate is 64.87%.

The +24-point score move over six months captures a market normalizing upward from a period of suppressed activity. Whether the score continues to 80 or consolidates at 75 depends on how transaction velocity and pricing data develop through the spring 2026 selling season. The current data supports the position that Mobile has room to run given the undervaluation reading and the employment foundation.

PropertyIQ score as of February 28, 2026. Listing and inventory data as of February 1, 2026. Zillow home value data as of January 31, 2026. Sale-to-list data as of November 30, 2025. Forecast data as of December 2025. Census data as of 2023. Economic data as of November 2025. All data for informational purposes only.