Area home sales up more than 7% year-to-date

Area home sales showed continued strength as September's home sales report showed a 14.88% increase in sales over the same month in 2012.

In all, 53 homes were sold in Crawford County in September, an improvement over the 45 homes sold during September 2012. When looking at the sale prices, the county boasted an increase of 30.16% last month over September of last year – $6.886 million versus $5.291 million.

Sebastian County also saw an increase, with 105 homes sold last month compared to 99 homes during September 2012. Values for homes sold in Sebastian County increased 9.75% over last year, with $17.291 million in sales compared to $15.75 million during the same month last year.

Dorothy Lawrence, an agent with Sagely and Edwards Realtors in Fort Smith, said one of the reasons the increase wasn't larger, particularly in Sebastian County, was because of the time of the year.

"September, of course, is not the biggest month of the year," she said. "Our summers are biggest and typically December is second in the category for big numbers."

She said what helped the numbers for both counties appear to be more valuable than they may have otherwise been is an increase across the entire state in the value of homes.

"What used to sell (at) $107,000 last year has risen about 9%," she said. "We might not be selling many (homes), but prices are coming back from the banking fiasco."

Crawford County had a average sales price last month of $129,930, compared to $117,573 in September 2012. Sebastian County had a average sales price last month of $164,674, compared to $159,132 in September 2012.

Lawrence said as the months move forward, Crawford County's numbers could fluctuate due to uncertainty with rural development loans.

Owner/Broker Kevin Clifton of Kevin Clifton Real Estate in Van Buren told The City Wire in September that should Congress fail to pass a comprehensive farm bill by Sept. 30, home buyers in his city and others could be affected.

Clifton said rural development loans have made it possible for home buyers to enter the housing market with no money down and sometimes financing the closing costs into the final price of the home. Couple that with sweeteners sometimes offered by sellers eager to close a deal, such as covering closing costs if the buyer does not have those funds or chooses not to finance them, and a buyer in the market for a new home can find themselves able to buy without a down payment or closing costs, often saving them thousands.

"The interest rate is staying close to the same for all loans, so if a rate is the same for one that requires some down but another requires nothing down, most (buyers) will go for the zero down loan."

With no progress made on the farm bill and the current government shutdown closing federal offices across the country, including USDA offices that process rural development loans, the status of rural development loans has been unknown.

But while there are uncertainties in the housing market, one upside is the sales increase in higher priced homes, Lawrence said.

"We're seeing a pickup. We went six months where we didn't see a lot of $200,000 to $350,000 homes sold. Last month, we saw an increase of five or six percent. We are seeing that price range of homes moving now, but it had been stagnant. So we've seen growth in the last two months with that."

Home Sales Data (January-September)
• Crawford County
Unit Sales
2013: 375
2012: 398

Total Sales Volume
2013: $41.972 million
2012: $47.308 million

Median Sales Price
2013: $109,900
2012: $110,000

• Sebastian County
Unit Sales
2013: 943
2012: 830

Total Sales Volume
2013: $135.711 million
2012: $114.701 million

Median Sales Price
2013: $115,500
2012: $118,750