BROUGHT TO YOU BY
March 2023 | Volume 10 | Issue 11
SERVING VESTAVIA HILLS, THE 280 CORRIDOR, HOMEWOOD, HOOVER, MOUNTAIN BROOK AND TRUSSVILLE
VESTAVIA HILLS’ COMMUNITY NEWS SOURCE VESTAVIAVOICE.COM | STARNESMEDIA.COM
Vestavia City Center
REAL ESTATE SPOTLIGHT Vestavia Hills home sales decline in 2022
By NEAL EMBRY
M
ore than 700 existing homes were sold in Vestavia Hills in 2022, with 19 newly constructed homes sold, according to data from the Greater Alabama Multiple Listing Service. The 723 existing homes sold is down from the 826 existing homes sold in 2021, and the overall total of 742 homes sold is the lowest since at least 2018, according to MLS data. Data shows the number of homes sold in Vestavia increased in 2020 and 2021 but declined last year, while the number of new homes has decreased in the past five years. In 2018, there were 85 new homes sold, followed by 38 in 2019, 95 in 2020 and 37 in 2021. For existing homes, there were 733 homes sold in 2018, followed by 801 in 2019, 833 in 2020 and 826 in 2021. While there were fewer homes sold last year, home prices were up. The average price of an existing home in 2022 was about $541,000, up from about $506,000 in 2021. In the past five years, the price of existing homes sold has increased each year from about $393,000 in 2018, the data shows. There is only a half-month’s supply of existing homes on the market, according to MLS data. As of Jan. 10, there were 35 homes still active on the market. There were 18 new homes on the market — currently an 11-month supply in Vestavia Hills.
See REAL ESTATE | page A16
New homes are under construction in a new subdivision at The Bray in Liberty Park on Feb. 1. Photo by Erin Nelson.
Student or bot? ChatGPT, other tools leading to new conversations at Vestavia Hills City Schools
A student works on a laptop during class at Liberty Park Middle School. Photo by Erin Nelson.
By NEAL EMBRY A new form of technology is growing rapidly in popularity and causing some concern in Vestavia Hills City Schools. ChatGPT, created by OpenAI, is one of several new online content generators,
INSIDE
Sponsors............... A4 News....................... A6
Business...............A10 Schoolhouse........ A12
which responds to prompts from users and can answer questions, write poems, essays, songs, speeches and more. It is trained to detect what it says is “misinformation” and also rejects what it deems as inappropriate or harmful, according to both reports and numerous tests conducted by the Vestavia Voice. Sports.................... B4 Events.................... B9
Other tools in development include Google’s “Bard” and Baidu’s “Ernie bot.” Microsoft’s existing tool “Bing” will also incorporate technology created by OpenAI, per a company press release.
See CHATGPT | page A18
Opinion................. B10 Metro Roundup.... B11
Summer Camp Guide................ B12 facebook.com/vestaviavoice
Rising Star
Batter Up
Vestavia Hills junior Colton Smith receives regional theater award.
Rebels look for a bounce-back season.
See page A12
Cummings
See page B1
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