Home sales in Arkansas surge 13.6% in April

Home sales rose 13.6 percent in Arkansas last month compared with April last year, the Arkansas Realtors Association said Wednesday.

There were 2,209 homes sold last month in the 43 counties surveyed by the association, up from 1,944 sold in April 2012. The increase was the biggest gain since February 2012, when sales jumped 15 percent.

April’s improvement in sales was strong but still not terribly impressive, said Michael Pakko, chief economist at the Institute for Economic Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

“April’s increase is an exaggeration of how good things are, because April 2012 was a relatively weak month,” Pakko said. “Typically you see the lowest sales in January and then ramping up through June and July and leveling off in the summer months. Last year we had a down-tick in April, which is not unheard of but is uncharacteristic.”

Sales in April 2012 were down 10 percent from April 2011, the biggest monthly decline in sales last year.

The largest metropolitan areas in Arkansas saw the most sales last month.

The Little Rock metropolitan area saw sales gains of 27 percent in Faulkner County, 12 percent in Saline County and 7 percent in Pulaski County. Northwest Arkansas sales rose by 28 percent in Washington County and 23 percent in Benton County.

Sales were up 7 percent in Sebastian County and 40 percent in Craighead County.

“The large metro areas, where most of the homes are sold, were strong,” said Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. “Pulaski County had a good month in terms of numbers sold and prices. And it was a strong month for Benton and Washington counties.”

For the first four months of the year, Arkansas home sales are up almost 8 percent.

“It continues to look like2013 is going to be an improved real estate market compared with the last two or three years,” Pakko said.

The increase in sales in Northwest Arkansas is being spurred by employment growth in that area, Deck said. The area has the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 5.1 percent, well under next-lowest rate of 6.2 percent in central Arkansas.

“Everything is clicking along [in Northwest Arkansas],” Deck said. “The housing market is reflecting the strong job growth and the low unemployment rate.”

Home sales also improved nationally. Sales of previously owned homes rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million in April, up from 4.94 million in March, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Home sales have risen 9.7 percent in the past 12 months nationally. The supply of available homes remains tight nationally and many potential buyers aren’t able to get loans.

Home prices were up 4.3 percent in the state last month to $159,503, the Realtors Association said.

“It’s nice to see strength in the number of homes sold and also the price,” Deck said. “This is consistent with what we’re seeing nationally.”

Home prices averaged more than $190,000 in Pulaski, Benton and Washington counties.

The average prices last month in Benton County - $194,637 - and Washington County -$192,643 - were the highest in those markets since 2008, Deck said. Pulaski County’s average home price of $195,762 in April wasn’t the highest since 2008, but it was close to that, Deck said.

Nationally, average U.S. home prices increased nearly 11 percent in March compared with a year ago, from $136,830 to $151,710, the sharpest 12-month jump since April 2006. Prices rose year over year in all 20 cities in the Standard &Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday.

Mortgage rates are still hovering near historic lows and are pushing home sales, said Scott McElmurry, chief operating officer at Bank of Little Rock Mortgage, one of the largest mortgage lenders in Pulaski County.

Mortgage rates rose slightly this past week but are still in the range of about 3.75 percent on a 30-year fixed rate loan and less than 3 percent for a 15-year loan, McElmurry said.

“It’s hard to complain about rates at that level,” McElmurry said.