Arkansas Home Sales Down Again In July, But Prices Rise

The number of homes sold in Arkansas’ four largest metro markets was down almost 6% in July, with year-to-date sales in 2012 up only 1.16% compared to the 2011 period.

There were 1,638 homes sold during July in the four large market areas measured by The City Wire’s Arkansas Home Sales Report, down 5.75% compared to July 2011, but up 21.51% compared to July 2010.

The City Wire’s Arkansas Home Sales Report captures home sales data in the state’s 14 most populated counties within the state’s four largest metro areas — Central Arkansas, 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.

During the first seven months of the year, home sales in the four markets totaled 10,480, up slightly over the 10,360 in the same period of July 2011, but down 4.59% compared to the same period in 2010.

The total value of July homes sold in the four markets was $280.559 million, up 7.3% compared to July 2011, and up almost 27% compared to July 2010. The average sales price of a home sold in the four markets during July was $171,282, well ahead of the $150,000 during July 2011.

For the first seven months of 2012, the value of homes sold in the four markets totaled $1.689 billion, up 10.09% compared to the same period of 2011, and up 1.26% compared to the same period of 2010.

NEGATIVE PRESSURES
Michael Pakko, University of Arkansas Institute for Economic Advancement chief economist, said lower sales over the past couple of months have fallen outside expectations.

He said he expected to see summer sales pick up compared to last year, pointing out that the unforeseen and continued sluggish job markets and ho-hum consumer confidence may have weighed on sales.

Blake Roussel, a Realtor with Exit Realty in Conway, said lead generation and hard work are essential to staying in business in the current economic climate.

“If you don’t have a good work ethic, you’re probably not in business anymore,” said Roussel, who has been in the business since 2004.

He said social media has been critical to staying in business. Around 50% of his clients come through social networking.

“Any way you can network is a positive,” Roussel said.

Roussel said just knowing people has helped, too. He graduated from Searcy High School and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas in 2006, meaning he knew a lot of people who were gearing up to buy their first homes when he was building his real estate practice.

REGIONAL FIGURES (Year-to-date)
Central Arkansas — Home sales
Jan.-July 2012: 5,070
Jan.-July 2011: 4,873
Jan.-July 2010: 5,597

Fort Smith area — Home sales
Jan.-July 2012: 928
Jan.-July 2011: 979
Jan.-July 2010: 1,077

Jonesboro area — Home sales
Jan.-July 2012: 970
Jan.-July 2011: 1,030
Jan.-July 2010: 1,109

Northwest Arkansas — Home sales
Jan.-July 2012: 3,512
Jan.-July 2011: 3,478
Jan.-July 2010: 3,201

The top five counties in terms of Jan.-July 2012 home sales:
Pulaski — 2,417, up compared to 2,280 in Jan.-July 2011
Benton — 2,167, up compared to 2,114 in Jan.-July 2011
Washington — 1,345, down compared to 1,364 in Jan.-July 2011
Saline — 774, up compared to 761 in Jan.-July 2011
Craighead — 743, down compared to 846 in Jan.-July 2011

Link here for a pdf of the data compiled for this report.