November homes sales down 31% statewide

Home sales in Arkansas during November fell 31.07% compared to November 2009, with sales for the first 11 months of 2010 down 6.24% compared to 2009, according to a report released Wednesday (Dec. 22) by the Arkansas Realtors Association.

The number of new and existing homes sold during November 2010 in Crawford, Franklin and Sebastian counties totaled 124, down 18.95% compared to November 2009. The value of the homes sold during November in the three counties totaled $15.912 million, down 12.07% compared to November 2009.

For the first 11 months of 2010, the number of new and existing homes in Crawford, Franklin and Sebastian counties totaled 1,642, down 10.56% compared to the same period in 2009. The value of the homes sold during the first 11 months totals $209.658 million, down 6.72% compared to the $224.785 million during the first 11 months of 2009.

Statewide, the number of homes sold during November totaled 1,544, compared to 2,240 in November 2009. For the first 11 months of 2010, home sales statewide total 21,930, down 6.24% compared to the 2009 period.

“These number are consistent with reports from the National Association of Realtors that home sales nationally are 27.9 percent below November 2009 numbers and home sales in the South are 26.1 percent below the year-ago surge,” the ARA noted in its report. “NAR also reports that the median price in the South was $148,000, down 2.6 percent from November 2009.”

Arkansas and the Fort Smith region is on track for the third consecutive year of declines in the number of homes sold. There were 1,948 homes sold during 2009 in Crawford, Franklin and Sebastian counties, down 6.39% from the 2,081 sold in 2008. Area homes sales in 2008 were 12.5% below those of 2007. Home sales statewide totaled 24,862 during 2009, just 0.95% below 2008 sales. Statewide home sales in 2008 were down 18.16% from 2007.

Home sales in the first half of 2010 were boosted in the region and around the state by a federal tax credit for certain homebuyers. While there were exceptions, the credit effectively expired by June. The number of new and existing homes sold during the January-June 2010 period in Crawford, Franklin and Sebastian counties totaled 974, up 8.4% over the same period in 2009. By July, the number of homes sold in the area was down compared to the 2009 period.

In the Northwest Arkansas economy, home sales are down, with year-to-date, home sales in Benton and Washington counties down 10.65% and down 9.04%, respectively.

REAL ESTATE STATS
Number of homes sold
Crawford County
Jan.-Nov. 2010:  464
Jan.-Nov. 2009:  545
-14.86%

Franklin County
Jan.-Nov. 2010: 80
Jan.-Nov. 2009: 101
-20.79%

Sebastian County
Jan.-Nov. 2010:  1,098
Jan.-Nov. 2009:  1,190
-7.73%

Value of homes sold
Crawford County
Jan.-Nov. 2010:  $53.769 million
Jan.-Nov. 2009:  $65.053 million
-17.35%

Franklin County
Jan.-Nov. 2010:  $6.297 million
Jan.-Nov. 2009:  $7.478 million
-15.8%

Sebastian County
Jan.-Nov. 2010:  $149.592 million
Jan.-Nov. 2009:  $152.254 million
-1.75%

Average price of homes sold
Crawford County
Jan.-Nov. 2010:  $115,883
Jan.-Nov. 2009:  $119,364
-2.92%

Franklin County
Jan.-Nov. 2010:  $78,719
Jan.-Nov. 2009:  $74,048
6.31%

Sebastian County
Jan.-Nov. 2010:  $136,241
Jan.-Nov. 2009:  $127,945
6.48%

The top five Arkansas counties in terms of number of homes sold during Jan.-Nov. 2010:
Pulaski County (3,790, down 8.37% from 2009)
Benton County (2,979, down 10.65% from 2009)
Washington County (1,891, down 9.04% from 2009)
Saline County (1,317, down 2.44% from 2009)
Craighead County (1,235, down 2.68% from 2009)