Regional home sales continue decline

The declines seen in new and existing home sales in late 2008 have clearly continued into 2009, with the number of homes sold in January in Crawford, Franklin and Sebastian counties dropping 27.3% compared to January 2008.

Statewide, the number of homes sold in January 2009 was 1,108, down 27% from January 2008, according to a report released Thursday (Mar. 5) by the Arkansas Realtors Association.

The combined value of the homes sold in January in the three regional counties was $11.29 million, down more than 33% from the same period in January 2009.

The value of homes sold statewide in January was $148.83 million, down 33.32% from January 2008.

The January 2009 housing report for the Fort Smith region is as follows:

Number of homes sold
Crawford County
January 2009: 23
January 2008: 40

Franklin County
January 2009: 2
January 2008: 7

Sebastian County
January 2009: 68
January 2008: 81

Value of homes sold
Crawford County
January 2009: $2.50 million
January 2008: $5.14 million

Franklin County
January 2009: $105,200
January 2008: $629,000

Sebastian County
January 2009: $8.67 million
January 2008: $11.22 million

Average price of homes sold
Crawford County
January 2009: $109,013
January 2008: $128,613

Franklin County
January 2009: $52,600
January 2008: $89,857

Sebastian County
January 2009: $127,618
January 2008: $138,560

The top five Arkansas counties in terms of number of homes sold are:
Pulaski County (208, down 20.31% from 2008)
Benton County (136, down 29.53% from 2008)
Washington County (85, down 24.11% from 2008)
Sebastian County (68, down 16.05% from 2008)
Faulkner County (65, down 14.47% from 2008)