Sebastian, Crawford county home sales stay up despite February declines

The Fort Smith metro home sales market — Crawford, Sebastian counties — slowed in February but continued to gain through the first two months of 2018, topping $49.361 million in sales volume with 273 units moved compared to $45.445 million on 276 units during the same period last year — a gain of 8.62%.

While that’s positive momentum, it is a gain in spite of a weak February in which overall performance dropped 4.57% to $24.049 million against February 2017’s $25.2 million. The data was provided by Kevin King and Jonella Graham of Weichert Realtors-The Griffin Company.

Sebastian County has pushed much of the gains for the first two months of the year with $35.982 million against $34.317 million, an increase of 4.85%. For February, Sebastian County sales volume posted a decrease of 0.29% to $18.141 million from last February’s $18.194 million. Crawford County has improved year-to-date 20.23% to $13.379 million from $11.128 million. However, the month’s performance fell 15.67% to $5.908 million from last February’s $7.006 million.

While home sales can fluctuate wildly from month-to-month — and two months isn’t much time to determine a sustained movement one way or the other — the 12-month trend shows a market that is steadily increasing with a gain of more than 7% when comparing the last 12 to the previous.

The longer trend also shows an 7.51% jump in sales volume with $387.212 million for the last 12 months compared to $360.17 million in the previous year. From those figures, Sebastian jumped 4.32% to $278.612 million from $267.079 million, and Crawford hit $108.6 million, up 16.66% from the previous 12 months’ $93.091 million.

From March 1, 2017 through the end of February, the data shows a “strong positive trend for sellers,” Graham said, noting a 25-day drop in the days a home spends on the market in Sebastian County — from 129 to 104 when comparing to March. 1, 2016-Feb.28, 2017.

Graham also noted that Sebastian County — the largest portion of the metro region — saw an increase in average sale price at $153,468 from $151,012, which is a gain of 1.6%. However, the number is in stark contrast to February’s $137,067 average sale price against February 2017’s $157,687. The last 28 days also witnessed a 2.86% drop in the number of units sold, dipping to 102 from 105 month-to-month. For the 12-month period, numbers are slightly off with 1,566 units sold compared to 1,573 for the previous period.

Crawford County managed to establish a positive overall trend in units sold for the combined region, moving 713 year-over-year against 671, a 6.26% increase that brought the grand total up 1.56% to 2,279 from 2,244. It beat the previous February as well with 44 units moved against 43 in February 2017.

Average sale price in Crawford for the 12-month period rose to $132,572 from $124,994, a 5.7% increase. However, the last 28 days brought a dip to $105,507 from February 2017’s $128,816, a loss of 18.1%. For the month, homes sold quicker with 96 days on the market compared to 150 days last year. The 12-month trend also saw a drop though not as significant to 107 days from 125.

BY THE NUMBERS (Jan.-Feb. for 2018; full year numbers for 2017, 2016, 2015)
• Crawford County
Unit Sales
2018: 88
2017: 701
2016: 671
2015: 606

Sales Volume
2018: $13.379 million
2017: $105.711 million
2016: $93.504 million
2015: $83.5 million

Average Sales Price
2018: $128,006
2017: $131,668
2016: $125,454
2015: $120,145

• Sebastian County
Unit Sales
2018: 185
2017: 1,571
2016: 1,558
2015: 1,459

Sales Volume
2018: $35.981 million
2017: $275.116 million
2016: $262.53 million
2015: $230.742 million

Average Sales Price
2018: $137,173
2017: $155,466
2016: $148,179
2015: $140,435