Fewer Homes For Sale Push Prices Higher

Fewer Homes Create Seller’s Market

Fewer homes for sale in Northwest Arkansas are pushing prices higher, said Paul Bynum, owner and director of MountData, a real estate marketing firm.

There were 3,414 homes for sale in November, down from 3,489 in October. Inventory hit a high of 7,192 in August 2007.

By The Numbers

Regional Home Sales

The recorded home sales in Benton and Washington counties in November for the past three years.

Year*Value of Homes Sold*Units*Median Home Price

2014*$103.3 million*535*$155,000

2013*$84.2 million*478*$142,250

2012*$85.1 million*483*$147,750

Source: MountData

By The Numbers

Foreclosure Filing Summary

Compares the number of filings in November 2013 with November 2014.

2013*2014*Percent Change

Benton County*66*17*-74.2 percent

Washington County*26*6*-76.9 percent

Statewide*469*235*-49.9 percent

Nationwide*113,454*112,498*-0.8 percent

Source: RealtyTrac

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RealtyTrac Complete Report

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"This creates an advantage to the seller by reducing the supply," Bynum said. "Usually a seller's market is a hot, brisk market."

The median sales price last month was $155,000, up from $142,250 a year earlier. MountData reports the average November sales price was $190,207.

Tom Reed, a partner with Streetsmart Data Services, said the single-family sales market recovered in 2012 from the recession, but prices have still not rebounded. He said 80 percent of sales in the last decade were $225,000 and below in Washington County and $250,000 and below in Benton County.

"Anything below $200,000 now is in strong demand," he said.

MountData reports 67 percent of the 6,739 home sales this year were below $200,000.

Real estate agents sold 535 homes in November, up from 479 in the same month last year, Bynum said.

Total sales are slightly ahead of last year's total, but Bynum said strong sales in the last month of 2013 could be hard to beat. Real estate agents sold 545 homes in the final month of 2013; only 200 sales had posted in the first two weeks of this month, he said.

"Last year there was a really big rally in December," he said.

Bynum expects a large number of sales to push through by year's end so buyers can take advantage of tax benefits.

Commercial real estate also is benefiting from a strengthened residential market, Reed said. He said there is more leasing activity in the office and retail markets, but they have not rebounded.

"Residential tends to rebound first, followed by commercial," he said.

Strong consumer confidence is also important, Reed said.

"When people feel better they spend, and when they spend, it is good for the commercial sector," he said.

Low foreclosure numbers also are strengthening consumer confidence. RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, reports there were 23 foreclosures in Benton and Washington counties last month. That's a drop of 75 percent from the 92 foreclosures in November 2013. Homeowners in the two counties had 103 foreclosure filings in October.

November foreclosures nationally were down 1 percent from a year earlier and down 9 percent from October.

"The housing market is struggling to find the new normal when it comes to a tolerable level of foreclosure activity in this post-Great Recession economy," Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, stated in his monthly report.

NW News on 12/16/2014

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