Area home sales ended 2012 strong as transactions and prices increased.
Realtors sold 421 Benton and Washington county homes in December, up from 417 a year earlier, according to MountData, a real estate marketing firm. A bigger jump came in prices as the median prices jumped from $139,00 to $152,500.
The slight rise in sales and growth in price drove sales volume for the month to $75.4 million, up from $71 million in December 2011.
“The market seems to be getting stronger every week,” said John Carpenter, senior vice president at Lindsey & Associates. “Nationwide and locally, everyone is still very cautious, but indications are the market is leveling out.”
He said homes are spending less time on the market while sellers are getting multiple offers.
By The Numbers
Regional Home Sales
The recorded home sales in Benton and Washington counties the past three Decembers.
Year Value Of Homes Sold Units Median Home Price
2010 $70.9 million 454 $125,000
2011 $71 million 417 $139,000
2012 $75.4 million 421 $152,500
Source: MountData
“If you want to sell your property in Northwest Arkansas and you price it accordingly, you can move it quickly,” he said.
Paul Bynum, MountData owner and principal broker, said the median number of days a home sold in December spent on the market was 52.
The inventory of homes for sale also reflects the quicker turnaround. Bynum said there were 3,178 homes on the market at the end of the month, down 56 percent from a glutted high of 7,192 in August 2007.
“There is no doubt the decrease in inventory is helping the market,” he said.
Debbie Greenlee, owner of Hometown Appraisal in Springdale, said a reduction of bank-owned homes on the market is helping push prices higher.
“Property values are either stable or increasing,” she said. “But the overall trend is they are moving up.”
Greenlee said many people held off selling their homes during the past few years as they waited for the economy to turn around. Between 2007 and 2010, she said many appraisals were for banks on homes they repossessed.
“Now the trend is there are more appraisals on new sales and refinancing,” she said.
Carpenter said his clients are split between first-time homebuyers and people looking to upgrade.
“People who were on the fence about buying seem to be getting going,” he said.
Newly constructed homes are also giving buyers another option, Carpenter said.
Almost 15 percent of homes sold October through December were new homes. The biggest number of new home sales were in Bentonville, where 67 of the 158 homes sold in the past three months were newly built.
Bentonville posted strong residential building permit numbers in December, as several builders started construction in existing subdivisions.
Riggins Construction pulled eight permits valued between $174,000 and $218,000 for homes on and around Homestead Avenue.
Arkansas Development Services obtained nine building permits for Arbor Road valued between $150,00 and $160,000.