Home sales decline in Sebastian and Crawford counties

Regional real estate sales for the first 10 months of the year show double-digit percentage declines in many cases of the number of homes sold and the total value of homes sold. The only regional bright spot in the October report from the Arkansas Realtors Association is that the average home prices are up in Franklin and Sebastian counties.

According to the association report, 21,987 homes were sold January-October, down 17.93 percent from the same period of 2007. The value of those homes in that period totaled $3.33 billion, down 18.72 percent from the 2007 period.

The housing report for the Fort Smith region is as follows:

Number of homes sold
Crawford County
January-October 2008: 539
January-October 2007: 673

Franklin County
January-October 2008: 62
January-October 2007: 92

Sebastian County
January-October 2008: 1,195
January-October 2007: 1,344

Value of homes sold
Crawford County
January-October 2008: $68.73 million
January-October 2007: $86.76 million

Franklin County
January-October 2008: $5.4 million
January-October 2007: $7.18 million

Sebastian County
January-October 2008: $166.96 million
January-October 2007: $175.14 million

Average price of homes sold
Crawford County
January-October 2008: $127,531
January-October 2007: $128,930

Franklin County
January-October 2008: $87,099
January-October 2007: $78,130

Sebastian County
January-October 2008: $139,717
January-October 2007: $130,319

The top five Arkansas counties in terms of number of homes sold January-September are:
• Pulaski County (3,918, down 18.71 percent from 2007)
• Benton County (2,868, down 19.53 percent from 2007)
• Washington County (1,725, down 26.6 percent from 2007)
• Saline County (1,195, down 20.19 percent from 2007)
• Sebastian County (1,195, down 11.09 percent from 2007)