Residential home sales have fallen steadily in Greene, Webster and Christian counties since 2006, and 2011 failed to buck that trend.
According to the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors, the average home sales price fell 1.9 percent to $123,046 in its three-county area last year from $125,422 in 2010. Total units sold dropped 6.9 percent to 5,395 in 2011.
Since 2006, residential units sold in the area are down 37 percent. The average sales price hit a high in 2007 of $147,666 before falling 16.7 percent to current levels.
GSBOR President Shirley Cofer, an agent with Murney Associates, said while the housing market has yet to turn around, she feels many signs point to an improving local environment.
“We feel we are at that bend and hopefully moving to that upward side. We were down in volume,” Cofer said, “but we have been down as much as 23 percent, so things are definitely looking much better.”
Across the state and country, the picture remained murky last year. According to the Missouri Association of Realtors, home sales were roughly flat statewide, and the average selling price in Missouri was down 3.4 percent in 2011. U.S. home sales increased by 1.7 percent last year, while the average sales prices dropped to $166,100, or 3.9 percent, from $172,900 in 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Cofer said Springfield-area inventory levels are improving. “We don’t have a huge glut on the market (such as) two years’ worth of inventory. And that’s a good sign,” she said, noting inventory levels are currently around nine months, referring to the amount of time it would take to sell all current listings with the current rate of sales, if no new listings become available.
Confidence inching upward
In spite of year-end numbers, some real estate agents are reporting increased interest among homebuyers and investors.
Dan Holt, a residential Realtor with Keller Williams Realty, said his home sales climbed dramatically in 2011, and recent activity among first-time homebuyers and with those purchasing higher-end properties points to more optimism in the market.
“I think there is some buyer confidence in the market right now,” Holt said, pointing to low home prices and interest rates in the 3.5 percent to 4 percent range. “Those two factors combined are creating the best home affordability scenario possible. It’s something the market has never seen before.”
While Holt’s volume of homes sold doubled last year to 110 transactions, he said his annual sales shot up to $12 million, compared to roughly $4.5 million in 2010, due in part to an uptick in luxury home sales.
Carla Green, mortgage loan manager for Arvest Bank in the Springfield-Branson region, said low interest rates have helped increase the bank’s new home loan volumes.
In 2011, Arvest’s seven area banks closed new mortgages worth $85 million, an increase of 38 percent compared to the previous year. Home loans, not including refinance loans, exceeded 600 last year, an increase of 35 percent.
In 2011, Arvest originated $1.6 billion bankwide in refinance and new home loans companywide, down from $1.78 billion in 2010.
“Even though overall loan volume was down some in 2011 for the company as a whole, our purchase business was up,” Green said. “And to us, that’s a good indicator of the state of the economy.”
Holt said he also has seen a sense of urgency among buyers of distressed sales who want to “still purchase while that paradigm exists.”
According to Cofer, bank-owned property sales were up 5.9 percent last year, but listings were down 38.5 percent.
Price points
Carrie Beason, a residential real estate agent with Carol Jones Realtors, said her annual sales volume has hovered around $3 million since she returned to real estate in October 2007. She worked briefly as a Realtor in the late 1990s.
Beason, who has property listings between $59,000 and $1.3 million, said she sold roughly 26 properties last year, amounting to roughly $120,000 more in total sales compared to 2010. She said the average sales price of homes she sold was $115,000.
The results positioned Beason in the Top 10 among Carol Jones residential agents in 2011.
“Some of it was just clients I had been working with and waiting to list or waiting to move into the area. So, I had some good luck,” Beason said.
She said the diversity of area employers, such as Missouri State University, Bass Pro Shops and the hospital systems, create a somewhat stable market. While she acknowledges that foreclosures and short sales have been a reality for many agents in recent years, the key to sales, Beason said, is hitting the right price the first time.
“You just really have to get your numbers right on, so that when your appraiser comes you’re not cut off at the knees and left in shock trying to renegotiate a contract because you’re $5,000 or $10,000 apart,” Beason said, adding that the mistake a lot of agents make is listing the price above fair market value. “The problem with that is that you can lose buyers that you never had a chance to sell.”
Holt agreed with Beason that price points are key.
“I don’t think we’ll see any great spike in home prices or values during the next seven years,” Holt said. “Those agents who are willing to do what it takes are going to make more money in this market.”
The work needed includes taking advantage of social marketing platforms such as Facebook. He said data available through Keller Williams tipped him off that buyers in Minnesota had been picking up homes in Springfield. By targeting that market on Facebook, he was able to secure a couple of sales last year.
While Beason said she’s seen agents gain results using social media, she has yet to concentrate on that kind of marketing.
“I have enough to keep me busy,” Beason said.[[In-content Ad]]
