story by Ryan Saylor
rsaylor@thecitywire.com
Editor’s note: This story is a component of The Compass Report. The quarterly Compass Report is managed by The City Wire and presented by Fort Smith-based Benefit Bank. Other supporting sponsors of The Compass Report are Cox Communications and the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Depending on what part of the Fort Smith metro area you look at, new and existing home sales are either through the roof or down in the dumps.
In Sebastian County, sales of new and existing homes were valued at roughly $14.688 million with 102 homes sold in March, which was an increase of 25.46% from March of last year.
Crossing the river into Crawford County, the numbers were bleak. Only 36 homes were sold at a value of $4.251 million, a drop of 23.09% from the same month last year.
Overall, home sales in both markets are down 5.2% during the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same quarter of 2012.
Chaney Brewer, an agent at Jim White Realty, said there are a few reasons why Crawford County's numbers could be so much weaker than Sebastian County's.
"One of the big things that's been going on right now is the threat of rural development loans going away," he said, adding that cities as large as Van Buren could be affected should the loan option disappear.
Brewer said with while the figures show a decline for Van Buren, it's not for a lack of buyers.
"As far as people buying houses, I would say that we're getting more buyers than sellers," he said. "I think that as far as inventory is concerned, we just haven't had a lot of inventory."
With the announcement of HMA locating a regional service center in the Fort Smith area, bringing with it 500 jobs and an annual payroll of more than $21 million, Brewer expects strong sales numbers to continue in Sebastian County and possibly pick up in Crawford County. http://www.thecitywire.com/node/27169
He also said with higher incomes, buyers will likely buy larger homes.
"As people come in, people's pay increases, people tend to move up into bigger homes," he said. "Some of these jobs are coming from out of town, so that will bring more buyers from out of the area."
As far as the median price of a home bought last month, Crawford County actually saw an increase of 28.87% from $97,000 in March 2012 to $125,000 in March 2013.
In Sebastian County, an increase was seen, as well, but the median sale price was lower than in Crawford County. The median sale price was $116,000 last month, a 10.74% increase from $104,750 in March 2012.
Home Sales Data (January - March)
Crawford County
Unit Sales
2013: 86
2012: 133
Total Sales Volume
2013: $8.934 million
2012: $14.763 million
Median Sales Price
2013: $96,000
2012: $99,400
Sebastian County
Unit Sales
2013: 242
2012: 213
Total Sales Volume
2013: $33.476 million
2012: $26.216 million
Median Sales Price
2013: $112,500
2012: $104,750