2010 marks four straight years of declining home sales

December home sales activity in Sebastian and Crawford County were not enough to prevent four consecutive years of decline in the number of area homes sold.

Figures from the King Realty Group’s December report prepared by Realtor Ernie Schimmelman, show Crawford County with 37 homes sales in December, down from 38 homes sold in December 2009. November sales in Sebastian County totaled 87, down 22% compared to December 2009.

Overall, sales in the two counties were down 17.33% in December.

For the year, the total new and existing Crawford County homes sold in 2010 is 485, down 15.6% compared to the 575 homes sold in 2009.

In Sebastian County, there were 1,148 homes sold in 2010, down 10.38% compared to 2009, according to Schimmelman’s report.

“An interesting picture emerges for the past decade starting in 2000. The total number of sales for 2000 and 2010 in both counties were extremely close. Crawford County’s 2000 sales were 455 and its 2010 sales were 485. Sebastian County’s results for these years were similar, 2000 sales at 1,170 and 2010 sales at 1,148,” Schimmelman noted in his analysis. “However, between those years sales increased annual to a peak in 2006 when 864 closings occurred in Crawford County and 1,660 occurred in Sebastian County. After 2006 sales for both counties declined each year to their present level.”

The inventory of homes for sale in Crawford and Sebastian counties is up 10.77% during 2010 (1,225 in January, 1,357 in December), according to Schimmelman’s report.

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, according to the Arkansas Realtors Association. 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.

Arkansas and the Fort Smith region are 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.

Although home sales were up in Northwest Arkansas during December, this report from First Arkansas News shows the market there is also down for the year.

According to statistics pulled from Arkansas Regional MLS (ARMLS), there were 456 homes sold in December in Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties — up 10.68% from 412 sales during the same month in 2009. In 2010, there were 5,599 homes sold in the four counties, down 7.9% from 6.079 sales in 2009.

The King Realty Market Group Report (as prepared by Ernie Schimmelman):
Crawford County (December)
Homes listed: 403
Homes sold, December 2010: 37
Homes sold, December 2009: 37
Mean price, December (rolling 12-month rate): $118,089
Homes listed $0 to $200,000: 301
Homes listed $201,000 to $500,000: 91
Homes listed $501,000 and up: 11

Sebastian County (December)
Homes listed: 954
Homes sold, December 2010: 70
Homes sold, December 2009: 98
Mean price, December (rolling 12-month rate): $135,269
Homes listed $0 to $200,000: 736
Homes listed $201,000 to $500,000: 187
Homes listed $501,000 and up: 31