Sebastian, Crawford counties home sales volume down 11% in first quarter

The Fort Smith metro home sales market — Crawford, Sebastian counties — slowed in March and fell behind for the first three months of 2018 by more than 11%. The two counties posted combined sales volume of $32.95 million against $37.077 million during the first quarter of 2017, with 48 fewer units sold (458 from 506).

According to data provided by Kevin King and Jonella Graham of Weichert Realtors-The Griffin Company, Sebastian County has dipped 0.03% with $60.398 million against $60.418 million during the same period last year. For March, the larger county’s sales volume fell 7.61% to $24.115 million from last March’s $26.101 million.

Crawford County improved year-to-date 1.05% while experiencing a small drop for the last 31 days. It posted $22.337 million for the first quarter compared to $22.104 million during the same period in 2017. However, the month’s performance was off 19.5% to $8.835 million from last March’s $10.976 million.

While home sales can fluctuate wildly from month-to-month — and three months isn’t much time to determine a sustained movement one way or the other — the 12-month trend continues to show an increase, but one in a slight state of erosion. At the end of February, the 12-month trend was ahead by 7%. That gain dipped to 4.17% last month.

The longer trend shows $383.509 million for the last 12 months compared to $368.156 million in the previous year. From those figures, Sebastian is up 1.8% to $276.928 million from $272.026 million, and Crawford hit $106.581 million, up 10.87% from the previous 12 months’ $96.13 million.

From April 1, 2017 through the end of March, the data shows “we are still in a sellers market,” Graham said, noting a 21-day drop in the days a home spends on the market in Sebastian County — from 125 to 104 when comparing to April 1, 2016-March 31, 2017.

Graham also said Sebastian County saw an increase in average sale price at $154,188 from $152,483, which is a gain of 1.1%. March was even kinder to sellers with an average sale price of $160,651 against March 2017’s $153,385. The last 31 days also witnessed a 15.69% drop in the number of units sold, dipping to 129 from 153 month-to-month. For the 12-month period, numbers are slightly off with 1,546 units sold compared to 1,585 for the previous period.

Crawford County saw a slight increase in units sold during the 12-month trend with 689 sales compared to 687 the previous year, a 0.29% increase that cut the overall loss for the combined region to just 1.63% with 2,235 units against 2,272. However, it was down for March with 51 units sold compared to 76 in March 2017.

Average sales price in Crawford County for the 12-month period rose to $133,599 from $125,880, a 6.1% increase. The last 31 days were even more impressive with an increase to $146,469 from March 2017’s $132,452, a gain of 10.6%. For the month, homes sold quicker at 123 days on the market compared to 138 days last year. The 12-month trend also saw a drop to 106 days from 128.

BY THE NUMBERS (Jan.-March for 2018; full year numbers for 2017, 2016, 2015)
• Crawford County
Unit Sales
2018: 140
2017: 701
2016: 671
2015: 606

Sales Volume
2018: $22.337 million
2017: $105.711 million
2016: $93.504 million
2015: $83.5 million

Average Sales Price
2018: $134,688
2017: $131,668
2016: $125,454
2015: $120,145

• Sebastian County
Unit Sales
2018: 318
2017: 1,571
2016: 1,558
2015: 1,459

Sales Volume
2018: $60.398 million
2017: $275.116 million
2016: $262.53 million
2015: $230.742 million

Average Sales Price
2018: $147,444
2017: $155,466
2016: $148,179
2015: $140,435