Homes Sales Trend Slower in Little Rock Since November

After many months trending in a positive direction for the Little Rock home sale market, for the second month in a row it has reversed and moved back. In fact a the end of January the number of sold homes was down almost 20% as compared to the end of December 2009. From the end of November sold homes for the target areas are down about 26% as compared to the end of November. As sales go down, inventories of homes for sale increased, up about 6% since the last month. These numbers result in the Absorption Rate ( time for all homes to sale at the present sales rate per month) has increased back up to over a 6 month supply and increases the Average Days on Market to 97 days.

There are some factors which should be taken into consideration. After the holiday season it is normal for it to take a while for the increase activity in the to show up in these numbers. Also even though the First Time Buyer Tax Credit was extended till the end of April, there seems to be a lull in its effect after November 30 the original ending date. Another factor that may have contributed to the slower sales is the bad weather in the form of rain, cold and freezing precipitation has not made it conducive for home sales activity. It will remain to be seen if this increase activity and the continued tax credit programs will put the market back on the positive tend it was on for many months in Little Rock. All other factors such as interest rates and level home prices  seem to be the same to encourage a positive tend in the market. It will interesting to see in the coming months.