Fort Smith regional home sales down

Home sales for the month of April stayed even with the same month last year, though total sales volume was down in both Crawford and Sebastian Counties.

In Sebastian County, sales of new and existing homes were valued at roughly $10.63 million with 92 homes sold in April. The same period last year saw 90 homes sold, but the value was $12.563 million, meaning this year saw a decline of 15.39% over last year's numbers.

Crawford County was a similar story, though not as drastic. During the month of April, 49 homes were sold, while 45 homes were sold in the same month last year. But the value of homes sold this year was $5.064 million, while last year's value was $5.203 million, a decline of only 2.68%.

Overall, home sales in both markets are down 0.83% during the first four months of 2013 compared to the same period of 2012.

Alice Medlock, broker/owner of Medlock and West Realty in Van Buren, said two issues were driving the lower sales volume – first time home buyers and foreclosures.

She said both would likely continue to keep prices low, especially foreclosures.

"We've already had as many foreclosures listed in the second quarter as we did for the entire year," she said.

The increase in foreclosures has been drastic at all real estate firms, Medlock said.

"Personally, for my company, probably over the last year, … we've had at least a 200% increase (in foreclosure listings)."

She said another factor in the lower price points could be a lack of sellers in all price ranges, such as high-end homes.

"There were price points missing," Medlock said. "In some areas, there wasn't enough to fill the need, but in other areas it was overloaded. I think there's more listings now than there were last year."

As far as the median price of a home bought last month, Crawford County saw a decrease of 10.25% from $120,900 in April 2012 to $108,506 in April 2013.

In Sebastian County, a decrease was also seen. The median sale price was $99,000 last month, a 13.91% decrease from $115,000 in April 2012.

Home Sales Data (January – April)
• Crawford County
Unit Sales
2013: 135
2012: 178

Total Sales Volume
2013: $13.999 million
2012: $19.967 million

Median Sales Price
2013: $103,450
2012: $100,000

• Sebastian County
Unit Sales
2013: 336
2012: 303

Total Sales Volume
2013: $44.261 million
2012: $38.778 million

Median Sales Price
2013: $103,688
2012: $127,982