Arkansas homebuyers were busy in November -- typically a slow period in real estate -- as sales rose 10.4 percent compared with November 2013, the Arkansas Realtors Association said Thursday.
There were 2,017 homes sold in November compared with 1,827 during the same month in 2013.
Home prices also rose, from a statewide average of $151,350 in November 2013 to $154,906 in November 2014.
"It was a fairly strong month for November," said Michael Pakko, chief economist at the Institute for Economic Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. "It continues the steadily improving trend we've seen in residential real estate."
November is one of the slowest months for home sales, falling behind only December and January, Pakko said, adding that November sales in Arkansas were the strongest in several years.
Benton County led the state with 362 home sales in November, up from 295 during the same period a year ago. There were 303 homes sold in Pulaski County, an increase from 293 in November 2013.
The mortgage market has also seen an increase in the number of loans to buy homes with about 70 percent t0 80 percent of business coming for purchases rather than for refinancing, said Scott McElmurry, chief executive officer of Bank of Little Rock Mortgage.
"We're kind of back into ... a normalized [mortgage] market," he said. "Both November and December were seasonally high."
Conway County saw the highest average home sales price in the state in November at $243,300, up from $102,750 a year ago. Benton County had the second highest average at $198,719, up from $170,107 in 2013. The sale of an expensive house can skew the average price in counties where few were sold.
The average price of a house in Pulaski County fell slightly in November to $186,560.
Home prices are improving but at a slower pace that the number number of houses sold, said Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
"I think this has been kind of continued pressure on prices to stay low even as volume increases," she said. "This market looks like it's trying to improve, steadily."
She said home prices have rebounded to pre-recession levels in some counties, while other counties lag behind.
"It looks like a continuation of the trend of the strengthening of the housing market in terms of volume," Deck said, but "I wouldn't say the market is on fire because of that price component."
Business on 01/09/2015