Fort Smith metro home sales down in June, but up 6.5% for the year

Sebastian and Crawford counties reported $35.124 million in sales volume, a 5.63% decline from $37.218 million for June 2016. However, year-to-date numbers continued to show improvement with $176.058 million in sales volume through June against $165.18 million in sales volume during the same six-month period of 2016 – up 6.59%.

While results were split, units sold showed improvements for the 30-day and YTD periods with the market seeing 218 sold for June against 213 in June 2016 and 1,108 sold through the first half of the year against 1,046 through June 2016 – increases of 2.35% and 5.93%, respectively.

On volume, Crawford posted the largest increase with $50.037 million sold through June compared to $43.889 million for 2016, a 14% gain. For the month, the county witnessed a surge of 37.58% with $8.998 million in sales against $6.54 million in June 2016. Crawford’ average sale price per home took a slight dip to $126,423 versus $127,087 for the first six months of 2016, but there were more homes sold (345-306) and less days on market (115-140).

Despite deferring to Crawford’s performance, Sebastian County continues to be the market’s major driver. The last 30 days saw a 14.84% decline in sales volume with $26.126 million compared to June 2016’s $30.678 million, but the county stayed above water with $126.021 million in volume YTD compared to $121.291 million for the first half of 2016 – an increase of 3.9%.

For the year, Sebastian has also seen an increase of 3.11% in units sold (763-740) and a decrease in days on market (112-138). Unlike Crawford, Sebastian’s buyers are paying 4.75% more for the average home, or $149,013 versus $142,261 in 2016.

“The overall market, despite slightly rising interest rates, is showing steady and slow improvement as has been predicted and expected,” said Kevin King, broker and owner of Weichert Realtors – King Realty Group. “Homes that are updated and staged well are commonly getting multiple offers and selling quickly. As a buyer you can’t expect to find a great property and get it for a deep discount. The market is showing that it’s willing to pay top dollar for great properties.”

BY THE NUMBERS (Jan.-June for 2017; full year numbers for 2016, 2015)
Crawford County
Unit Sales
2017: 345
2016: 670
2015: 606

Sales Volume
2017: $50.037 million
2016: $83.984 million
2015: $72.808 million

Average Sales Price
2017: $126,423
2016: $125,350
2015: $120,145

Sebastian County
Unit Sales
2017: 763
2016: 1,557
2015: 1,459

Sales Volume
2017: $126.021 million
2016: $230.803 million
2015: $204.894 million

Average Sales Price
2017: $149,013
2016: $148,236
2015: $140,435