story by Ryan Saylor
rsaylor@thecitywire.com
Home sales in the region were up double digits in September, with Crawford County posting a 13.75% improvement in sales volume over the same month in 2013 while Sebastian County posted an 18.74% gain.
Crawford County's home sales totaled $7.734 million for the month, while Sebastian County rang in at $16.47 million.
For the first three quarters of the year, Crawford County reported strong figures, as well, with $54.762 million in sales, a 30.38% jump from the same period last year when $42.002 million in sales were reported. In Sebastian County, the first three quarters of this year saw $137.191 million in volume, a 3.55% increase over the same period's sales of $132.483 million last year.
Sandra Heiner, executive director of the Crawford County Board of Realtors and the broker/owner of Turner Realty in Van Buren, said there were several factors at play in both counties.
In Sebastian County, Heiner said new home construction in Chaffee Crossing drove home sales up for the entire county while in Crawford County, Rural Development Loans were continuing to be a driving force in the local housing market.
"It is (helping," she said of the loans, noting that residents are still trying to get loans locked in before a moratorium on RDLs are set to expire in September 2015. The loan program had originally been slated to expire before U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack imposed the moratorium for Arkansas' impacted communities, which included Van Buren and five other communities statewide.
Heiner said during the moratorium, lobbyists and locals in the real estate business would continue making the case for RDL in Van Buren.
"We keep fighting for that (in the regional USDA office) in Little Rock. The lobbyists that we have in Little Rock keep fighting for it. They keep trying to do away with it, but we've still got it. We're able to retain it (until next year)."
She said the county would continue benefitting from the RDLs even if Van Buren loses access to it, largely because of its proximity to both the Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas metropolitan areas.
"People want to live in small towns," she said. "Van Buren is the closest to Fort Smith, but we get a lot of people that come to Crawford County to buy because of its smaller towns."
In August, Larry Stanfill, a broker with Chuck Fawcett Realty's Greenwood office said the fall and winter months typically slow down in the real estate market due to a variety of factors, such as the weather, a busy holiday season and parents not wanting to move their children during the school year.
But with Crawford and Sebastian Counties volume performing so well in September, Heiner was asked what could be behind the numbers and she said it was largely sales from the summer months still trickling into the fall.
"If they are going to move, they will be getting ready to move in August before school starts. But sometimes that rolls into September and makes it a good month. They can't sometimes close until September, though many want to move and get into a district before school starts."
She added that with many districts, including Fort Smith, having open enrollment it is becoming less and less of an issue, though.
"Many of them have an open door policy if you bring your child to school (and do not rely on school-provided transportation)."
Home Sales Data (January - September)
• Crawford County
Unit Sales
2014: 469
2013: 377
Total Sales Volume
2014: $54.762 million
2013: $42.002 million
Median Sales Price
2014: $107,000
2013: $109,900
• Sebastian County
Unit Sales
2014: 1,035
2013: 948
Total Sales Volume
2014: $137.191 million
2013: $132.483 million
Median Sales Price
2014: $114.450
2013: $116,000