Home Sales Up 14 Percent

The local housing market has improved enough to push out of the recession, according to one expert.

“If we slip back at this point I would call that a new recession,” said Paul Bynum, MountData owner and principal broker. MountData is a real estate marketing firm.

June sales of 643 units lifted total sales for the year to 3,393, a 14 percent increase from 2012, according to MountData.

The median sales price of $154,650 last month jumped 11 percent from the median price of $139,000 in June 2012.

Homes are also spending less time on the market. Bynum said the homes average 45 days on the market in June, the lowest mark in seven years. He tracks days on market from listing to contract.

“Lower figures mean buyers are not waiting around,” he said.

Tina Hodne, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Harris McHaney & Faucette Real Estate, said she had a couple listings that recently sold within a week at or near the asking price.

Bynum said sellers are getting an average of 98.5 percent of their list price.

“I’m also seeing some competing bids, some even coming in over the asking price,” Hodne said. “The market is definitely turning around.”

She became a Realtor five years ago and said the past couple months have been extremely busy.

Realtors are not the only people hoping the local real estate market continues to strengthen.

Erin McLellan has her fingers crossed. She is owner of Home Staging NWA and specializes in helping people sell their homes faster and for higher prices.

“The two-and-a-half to three months have been so busy,” she said. “Sometimes just some small things can make a big difference in selling a house.”

Her business is split between occupied and vacant homes and works for both Realtors and homeowners.

The biggest two things people need to do when trying to sell their homes while still living in them is to declutter and depersonalize, McLellan said.

“When we live in a home we get acclimated to our things. I make recommendations and then help (the client) implement them if they wish,” she said.

A lot of times it is just a matter of moving around furniture to make spaces look bigger and packing up clutter, she said.

Lately she has worked with more vacant houses which require her to bring in furniture for staging. She said only 10 percent of people can visualize what an empty space will look like with furniture. Staging fills that void.

She owns many of the items she uses for staging and rents big furniture from a local store.

The National Association of Realtors reports the average staging investment is between 1 percent and 3 percent of a home’s asking price and generates a return of 8 percent to 10 percent.

Real estate website HomeGain.com reports staged homes spent 83 percent less time on the market than non-staged homes.

Bynum said homes are selling quicker right now because of increasing interest rates.

“If people are going to buy, they should do it now,” he said. “The impact of just 1 percentage point can be quite dramatic on a mortgage payment.”

Freddie Mac reported last week’s average interest rate on a 30-year loan hit a two-year high at 4.51 percent. That’s up from 4.29 percent a week earlier and up from 3.35 percent two months ago. The record low was 3.31 percent.

Bynum said another lingering concern is the unemployment rate. The national unemployment rate averaged 5.34 percent between 1990 and 2007 before approaching 10 percent during the recession that ran from December 2007 to June 2009, he said. It now hovers around 7 percent.

The local unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in May and Bynum said while it is well below the national average, it remain much higher than the average 3.3 percent between 2002-07.

“People are getting more and more confident, but there are still people that are a little more reluctant to make a purchase,” he said.

Hodne said the market is shifting to a sellers market as prices continue to rise. She had a home recently sell for $108 per square foot. Bynum said the median price per square foot last month was $84.

“There are still some good prices out there, but most sellers have adjusted their prices,” Hodne said. “People who were waiting to buy should make a move now.”