Housing Prices Inch Up

The number of houses sold during the month of May fell slightly from last May's total, but the average price of houses sold is increasing.

Northwest Arkansas real estate agents sold 648 houses in May compared with 712 houses in May 2013, according to MountData, a real estate marketing firm. There were 609 houses sold in May 2012.

Homes less than $300,000 are in a seller's market, according to Paul Bynum, owner and director of MountData. A seller's market means there are fewer houses available for prospective buyers and homes tend to have a higher sales price.

The average price of the 2,660 houses sold in Northwest Arkansas in the first five months of the year was $181,845, according to the MountData report. Fourteen percent, or 375 homes, sold in Northwest Arkansas for prices ranging between $125,000 and $150,000 during May.

Six homes have sold for more than $1 million so far this year in Northwest Arkansas.

Homes for sale right now may be getting multiple offers, said Misti Carter, chief executive officer of Keller Williams Realty in Northwest Arkansas.

Homes on the market are priced well, she said. Fewer offers are coming in under the selling price, and buyers are not asking for extras like help with closing costs. There were 106 sales last May through Keller Williams and 152 this year, she said.

Micromarkets, such as historic Fayetteville and a growing area around downtown Bentonville, are hot, Carter said.

"You can put a blade of grass for sale in downtown Bentonville and name your price, and it will sell," Carter said. "I think we're going to see more of a live, work, play dynamic in downtown Bentonville."

More investors are coming back into the picture, she said.

Northwest Arkansas is a good market for a rental portfolio for investors because business professionals may move to the area only to leave again. However, school zones and commutes play into what neighborhoods they want to live in.

Keller Williams has expanded its Northwest Arkansas office to 140 agents, up from 106 in 2013. The office is attracting successful agents and also training new ones, Carter said. Agents are on track to exceed all of last year's sales in the first seven months of this year, she said.

The average price per square foot of house sold in May was $85, up $1 from April, according to the Mount Data report.

The midpoint sales price of houses sold so far this year was $147,460, up $460 from the same period last year, and up $11,460 since 2012.

Foreclosures and short sales make up a small portion of all sales, helping drive prices up.

"The 'deals' aren't out there anymore," Carter said.

May foreclosures in the two-county area were only a quarter of what they were a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure proprieties. There were 55 foreclosures last month in Benton and Washington counties compared to 226 in May 2013, according to the report.

Benton County accounted for 42 foreclosures in May. Washington County had 13 filings.

RealtyTrac reports that national foreclosure filings dropped 26 percent between May 2013 and last month, and hit the lowest monthly level since December 2006.

One thing that is slower this year is the amount of time it takes from when a buyer signs a contract to when they take possession of the house, Carter said.

There were 814 pending sales from May that had not closed by the end of the month, up 100 over last May, according to the Mount Data report.

Agents could once close a home in 30 days or less, but buyers should give themselves six to eight weeks to close a sale because of lending practices, she said.

Buyers who want to be in a new house or sell their home before school starts this fall will need to be looking now.

"Time is of the essence," she said.

NW News on 06/17/2014