Arkansas Home Sales, Values See Healthy Gains In September

Home sales in Arkansas’ four largest markets rebounded in September, with year-to-date sales up almost 4% and the value of homes sold up almost 2%. September sales in the four markets were up 7.26% and the sales value was up more than 9%.

August sales in the four markets were down more than 5% and sales were down more than 8%.

Jeff Collins, an economist for The City Wire, said improvements in this year’s housing market can be taken as more evidence that the economy is heading in the right direction.

“This is really good news,” he said of the September report. “Couple that with other economic news … and it seems everybody is feeling the economy is righted.”

Home sales in Arkansas’ four largest metro areas during the first nine months of 2014 totaled 16,469, up 3.83% compared to the same period in 2013, according to The City Wire’s Arkansas Home Sales Report. The average price per home sold in the four markets was $162,720, down 1.77% compared to the same period in 2013, and the total value of $2.679 billion in the four markets was up 1.99%.

The year-to-date comparisons are up against what was a robust 2013 in terms of Arkansas home sales and sales values. For example, the 2014 year-to-date home sales are up 18.18% over the same period in 2012 and the value of home sales is up 19.39% compared to the same period in 2012.

The City Wire’s Arkansas Home Sales Report captures home sales data in the state’s 14 most populated counties within its four largest metro areas — Central Arkansas, the Fort Smith area, Jonesboro/Northeast Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas. The report, which records closed sales, accounts for between 70% and 75% of total Arkansas home sales.

SEPTEMBER NUMBERS
September home sales in the four markets totaled 1,936, up 7.26% compared to September 2013, and up 29.76% compared to September 2012. The average price per home in the four markets during September was $164,449, up 1.89% compared to September 2013, and up 0.49% compared to September 2012. The total value of sales in the four markets during September was $318.373 million, up 9.28% compared to September 2013 and up 30.4% compared to September 2012.

There were 939 homes sold in central Arkansas, up 9.19% compared to September 2013, and up 33.57% compared to September 2012.

September home sales totaled 615 in Northwest Arkansas, down 1.6% compared to September 2013, and up 26.28% compared to September 2012.

Jonesboro area home sales totaled 199, up 26.75% compared to September 2013 and up 25.95% compared to September 2012.

In the Fort Smith area, home sales totaled 183, up 12.27% compared to September 2013, and up 27.08% compared to September 2012.

The total value of the sales during September were up 10.45% in central Arkansas, up 4.17% in Northwest Arkansas, up 21% in the Jonesboro area, and up 17.1% in the Fort Smith region.

THE REGIONAL PICTURE: 2014
Central Arkansas — Home sales
Jan.-September 2014: 7,747
Jan.-September 2013: 7,431
Jan.-September 2012: 6,699

Fort Smith area — Home sales
Jan.-September 2014: 1,504
Jan.-September 2013: 1,325
Jan.-September 2012: 1,228

Jonesboro area — Home sales
Jan.-September 2014: 1,717
Jan.-September 2013: 1,458
Jan.-September 2012: 1,314

Northwest Arkansas — Home sales
Jan.-September 2014: 5,501
Jan.-September 2013: 5,648
Jan.-September 2012: 4,695

The top five counties in terms of Jan.-September 2014 home sales:
Pulaski — 3,583, up compared to 3,425 in 2013
Benton — 3,503, down compared to 3,555 in 2013
Washington — 1,998, down compared to 2,093 in 2013
Craighead — 1,356, up compared to 1,152 in 2013
Saline — 1,268, up compared to 1,188 in 2013

FED MOVES
Collins said other real estate-related economic news has to do with an Oct. 29 announcement from the Federal Reserve that it will stop its program of purchasing mortgage-backed securities. In 2008, the Fed began buying treasury bonds and mortgage backed securities as a way to stimulate the economy, but has decided that those measures are no longer necessary. Most recently, the Fed spent $15 billion a month on treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities.

Mortgage-backed securities are, as the name suggests, backed by mortgages and generate capital for more home loans. In 2008, there was a fear that a large number of mortgage defaults would destroy that market and greatly diminish the amount of credit available for home buyers. The Fed, then, decided to step in and prop up that segment of the economy.

Collins is also encouraged by the Fed’s decision to keep short term rates at around 0% in hopes of stimulating the economy further.

Overall, Collins said he is encouraged by what he sees in the housing market and economy as a whole. He expects to see more good economic news in the months to come.