Buyer’s Market

There’s been plenty of angst over the residential market in the nation and in overbuilt Northwest Arkansas, but all is not bleak. Good news is managing to trickle out of the local lending industry.
Arvest Bank Group Inc. told Whispers last month it had its second-largest amount of loan applications in the bank’s history during March, which preceded news from the national front that home sales in April had their biggest leap from the prior month in 14 years, up 16 percent.
No one is turning cartwheels just yet, though, as the median price of a home fell 11 percent year-over-year to $229,000 with builders slashing prices to move inventory.
While that may not be good for the builder, it has been good for the buyer and as interest rates inch upward many considering a home purchase are getting off the fence before rates go any higher.
Tim McClung at ENG Lending tells us his pipeline is “as big as it’s ever been” and he has $2.5 million in closings lined up for June with only one re-finance and an average loan of more than $250,000, the price point where most of the oversupply rests in Northwest Arkansas.