Arkansas home sales rose 6.9 percent in December compared with December 2013, according to the the Arkansas Realtors Association.
For the year, home sales were up 4.5 percent, with 28,453 homes sold in 2014.
December is typically one of the slowest months of the year for home sales, along with November and January, Michael Pakko, chief economist at the Institute for Economic Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, said Monday.
December's home sales were higher than November's sales, Pakko noted.
"But overall December seemed to be roughly on track with what we've been seeing the past 2.5 years," Pakko said. "And it looks like things are pretty much on track for a continuing increase in home sales around the state."
There were 351 homes sold in Benton County in December, slightly ahead of the 323 sales in Pulaski County.
For the year, Benton County real estate agents sold 4,724 homes, the most sold in the state. There were 4,548 homes sold in Pulaski County last year.
Home sales in Craighead County were up almost 77 percent in December compared with December 2013.
There were 99 homes sold in Craighead County in December 2014 compared with 56 in December 2013.
Several things may have caused the big jump, said Jim Drake, principal broker for Re/Max Real Estate Centre in Jonesboro.
The area suffered a major ice storm in December 2013, closing businesses and schools for about a week, Drake said. The weather was good in November and December 2014, Drake said.
Also in December, more than the typical number of investors were selling and buying property for tax purposes before the end of the year, Drake said.
For about the past five years, Craighead County has also seen the development of quite a few subdivisions, Drake said.
For three of the past five Decembers, Craighead County real estate agents have sold about 100 homes.
Arkansas' residential real estate market is still recovering from the recession, Pakko said.
"We're still nowhere back to where we were [in sales] before the recession," Pakko said. "But that was an overenthusiastic market anyway."
He said he expects about 5 percent growth in 2015 compared to last year, particularly if interest rates remain low.
Last year was a good year for home purchases as opposed to refinancings, which were high in 2013, said Scott McElmurry, chief executive officer for Bank of Little Rock Mortgage.
So far this year, Bank of Little Rock Mortgage has been busier than it was for the same period last year, McElmurry said.
"You're getting strengthening in the housing market and strengthening for the economy, which bodes well for consumer confidence," McElmurry said. "In 2012 and 2013, people were concerned about their jobs even if they had jobs. So there was a hesitancy to go out and make large purchases" such as a house.
Interest rates have remained low, McElmurry said.
The interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is about 3.5 percent and is slightly lower for a government loan, McElmurry said.
Business on 02/24/2015