I was  reading a Forbes blog dated 1/7/09 and it featured Little Rock as one of America’s 25 top housing market.  Little Rock’s housing market is predicted to only drop 1%.    In Pulaski County average sales price    dropped 2.2 % from 2007. The higher priced areas of Pulaski County dropped 2.3 %.  However, the most impressive figure is our listing inventory is down 15.5 %  which means we are selling the backlog of homes.

Little Rock’s foreclosure rate is 1  out of 200 where the nation’s rate is 1 out of 54.

Click on the link to read the full article…..

In Depth: America’s 25 Strongest Housing Markets

   This article is published by the National Association of Realtors..

     Existing-home sales rose unexpectedly while inventory declined, led by a surge of sales in the West. Existing-home sales “ including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops “ jumped 6.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of 4.74 million units in December from a downwardly revised pace of 4.45 million units in November, but are 3.5 percent below the 4.91 million-unit pace in December 2007.For all of 2008 there were 4,912,000 existing-home sales, which was 13.1 percent below the 5,652,000 transactions recorded in 2007.

What does this mean to our local market?  Are attitudes changing? Is it a good time to buy? The answer is yes! That is why it is called a buyer’s market.

     If the stimulus package is passed with a $15,000 tax credit the market will go crazy. There was a decline in listings  by 1600 (15.7%) homes in Pulaski County  and in our higher dollar areas were down by 561 (12.1%) homes.  We are still experiencing a decrease in units sold, but we are not continually adding inventory.  If you have had your home on the market or have been considering selling, feel free to contact me for an up-to-date value of your  home KerryEllison@kw.com.

I will be updating my blog with the 5 year trends in listings and units sold, please log onto my website Your Market Expert.

Can you believe it is the middle of January 2008. Where did 2007 go? Actually with all the media coverage of the housing market and the sub prime loan market I don™t think I will miss 2007. 2008 looks to be much more promising. We are seeing a lot of activity in our homes under $200,000 and under $300,000 in a lot of our markets.

Laurence Yun, the Chief Economist for NAR has plenty of positive news. The Sub Prime Market is a small percent of homes in our local area. NO one can really pin point what percentage of homes sold sub prime in 2005, 2006 and 2007. However one of the best explanations I have ever heard is GREED. Traditional mortgages were not returning enough so Wall Street got greedy. How can a person who is in bankruptcy, late on house payments, credit cards and student loans walk in and get a loan. Greed¦10 to 14 % interest rates. These borrowers could not even qualify for a car loan, but the sub prime market said sure make the largest purchase of your life, here is a 100 % loan. No one is asking if these borrowers should get a loan?

2007 was the 5th  best year on record. If you read any newspapers or watched any of the nightly news shows you would think we had one of the worst years on record. We did not; we just had climbed so high the fall was steep. In our local market when you have more homes built than have ever sold in any given year how did we think they would be bought? With no major changes in our economy where are the buyers coming from? How can the banks continue to just give and give? Did anyone ever stop to think , “should I do this?”  What ever happen to the supply and demand curve?

Thanks to over-development, over-supply and too many flip this house shows, we have flooded our market. Our demand is still in line with recent years, but our supply is double our demand. That means one thing, lower prices. Again we never saw a double digit appreciation, so we haven™t seen 20 % deprecation. I think if we could just throw out 2006, 2007 and price our current homes off 2004, 2005 we would be just fine. WE had 2 years of unusual appreciation; however Homes in Little Rock are still stable and selling. It goes back to supply and demand.

Weekending Numbers>>>

Dates:     New Listings      $ change     Exp     Pending         Solds        lp/sp           DOM Ttl Homes on Market

12/3/07             71                                    69             37               67                     47               102/99       57                   1202…

12/10/07         50                                   31             12                 68                   38              106/103     68                 1132>>>Wow

**this information is gather from CARMLS…and I use specific areas of our MLS and Homes  in Little  Rock and Central Arkansas

A brief recap of mortgage activities for the last several days will show that we now almost equal the best mortgage rates for the last TWO YEARS!   This alone should be reason to push those fence sitting buyers into a purchase mode.   Given the ample supply of product, there are value transactions that are being made and I hope that you are writing them up.  

Economic indicators show that initial jobless claims for this week were reported at 352,000 which was well above expectations of 330,000 and the highest level since mid-February.   The mortgage market benefits from bad economic news so this has helped rates hold at current levels.  

TOMORROW (all caps for special emphasis) the government will be releasing a rather obscure report called the Personal Consumption Expenditure Index (PCE).   This report shows inflation impact based on the individual consumer.   It is the Fed™s FAVORITE indicator of inflation and the report has a significant impact on future rate cuts.    

Here™s the deal¦ if that report shows inflation to be much greater than the anticipated .02% increase for the month, or more importantly, a greater increase that the 2.0% year over year rate, the fun is over!   Stock markets will suffer because the Fed will not cut rates as anticipated.   Why? The Fed hates inflation and their target inflations rate is 2% annually.   We really don™t want to see that target rate exceeded.   Bonds will suffer equally because fixed rate investments REALLY hate inflation.   Mortgage rates? Keep in mind that we are sitting on two year lows on home loan rates.   There would be no reason for them to go lower; you would see rates start to worsen.  

Will any of this happen?   Ask me tomorrow after 7:30 am and I™ll have you some answers.   Right now, the trend still favors floating but be prepared to lock if the inflation numbers come in worse than expected.   If you want to see instant reaction, tune into CNBC at 7:30 sharp for all the action.  

Current rates are around 5.75% on 30 year fixed loans.   Call me with you current transaction and receive the absolute lowest rate possible-if it closes in December.  

Have a great day!Claude Cousins
Sr. Vice President

Office 501-320-4902
Fax       501-320-4939
Cell     501-350-8040 Confidentiality Notice This communication from Centennial Bank may contain privileged and/or confidential information.   It is intended solely for the use of the addressee.   If you are not the intended recipient, you are strictly prohibited from disclosing, copying, distributing or using any of this information.   If you receive this communication in error, please contact the sender immediately and destroy the material in its entirety, whether electronic or hard copy.   This communication may contain nonpublic personal information about consumers subject to the restrictions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. You may not directly or indirectly reuse or redisclose such information for any purpose other than to provide the services for which you are receiving the information.  

Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.

      When I woke up this morning  I was  shocked  to see the housing market  front and  center.(Again)    I  lwas reading an article in the Realtor magazine and learned  the media reports off data gathered from the Tax Assessors and the Mortgage companies.   These numbers are usually delayed.  The  most up to date numbers  come from the MLS.    80 % + of all homes are sold through a Realtor. I compiled a quick summary of what is happening in the Little Rock Real Estate Market.   I think you will find this interesting. I did..

Yearly Trends in Pulaski County

Year     Ttl Listed    #Sold    % Sold    Avg List $    Avg. Sale $     LP/SP $     DOM   %Expired        

2005               7458               5518       74%           $172,134        $168,372           97.81%           57               0.58%

2006               9227               5506       60%           $174,000         $170,198           97.59%           68               13.04%

2007               9100               4796       53%           $180,633         $175,560           97.19%           76               17.49%

Yearly Trends in Hillcrest/Heights/Mid-Town/West Little Rock/Chenal/Ferndale/Maumelle/North Little Rock

2005               3497             2663         76.15%     $243,206       $237,645           97.71%       53               0.43%

2006               4231             2630         62.16%     $241,164       $235,401           97.61%      54             13.05%

2007               4159           2243           53.93%     $248,769       $241,156           96.94%       69               16.37%  

   The Kerry Ellison Team

Little Rock,AR
72211

501-529-8809 Cell Phone

Email:KerryEllison@kw.com

Website:www.KerryEllison.com    

****This information is deemed was gathering from the Central Arkansas MLS***** Keller Williams Realty, Each office is independently owned and operated.

Date                   New       $change        Pending     Expired       ttl  market        Solds       lp/sp           dom

10/22/07       3                   1                              7                         1                       40                         2                                               27

This information is a  combined PV and Longlea…to break down the numbers total homes in Longlea for sale 21

Total homes for sale in Pleasant Valley 19

Again if I can ever help anyone with any real estate needs for questions please let me know..

your neighborhood expert..

Kerry Ellison

Just an update on the overall Little Rock Real Estate market..10/8/07-10/15/07

New Listings     $ Change       Under Contract     Expired   Ttl  home on Mkt     sold   LP/SP   DOM  

78                                       69                                  71                                    17                                     1259            25     101/95     88

*** These numbers are derived from the Central Arkansas Mulit List Service…and specific areas in the Little Rock, Maumelle and North Little Rock Markets…

 If you are interested in a market evaluation on your homes please feel free to send me an email with your address and I will be glad to work with you…Thanks again…

Year                   # homes Sold         List Price    $per sf      Sales Price     $per sf      Market Time

2004                                 36                                  $339,263        $96             $326,169              $93                   84

2005                                 34                                 $365,335          $103         $ 354,238             $100               60    

2006                                  39                                $399,997       $117           $382,935           $112                55

2007                                  36                                  $354,794         $107            $338,886               $102               68

I think what  I see  out of these statistics is  we had a banner year  in 2006, however we are still above $ per ft solds in 2007 vs. 2005.   We are simply  seeing an adjustment in  the mindset of our buyers.    We are in an oversupplied market in West Little  Rock as a whole. We are still seeing  the same number  of homes sell, just at a more realistic price.

And as always for your real estates needs in Pleasant Valley I am delighted to help!

I will be publishing  the Longlea  statistics soon…and  this site will be updated weekly….  

 All this infomation was complied from CARMLS and in the subdivsion of Pleasant Valley.