What's New in Hot Springs, Arkansas : First Choice Realty, the kennedy team, Hot Springs

GARLAND COUNTY MARKET UPDATE for 1st Quarter of 2012

the Kennedy Crew ~ — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:12:00 GMT

The numbers are in for first quarter of the year, and we have prepared the following report for you.
Residential Sales in Garland County, AR
(information obtained from the Hot Springs Board of Realtors mls)
Average Days on Market
1/1/11 – 3/31/11: 167
1/1/12 – 3/31/12: 179

Number of Listings Sold
1/1/11 – 3/31/11: 204
1/1/12 – 3/31/12: 220

Average Price of Sold Listings
1/1/11 – 3/31/11: $159,733
1/1/12 – 3/31/12: $138,153

Percentage of listings that Sold
1/1/11 – 3/31/11: 28%
1/1/12 – 3/31/12: 33%

MLS Sold Volume
1/1/11 – 3/31/11: $32,585,629
1/1/12 – 3/31/12: $30,393,831
(Click here for a more detailed report of the current market in Garland County, AR)
While the numbers are very similar to last year at this same time, we noticed that there were actually more units sold this year, however the total sales volume was a little less than last year’s volume.
While the local average home sales price is a little low, the national statistics are reporting a different story - stating the luxury market is showing signs of improvement.  According to recent reports by the National Association of Realtors - for the first time, the $500,000 and above market segment represented 10% of all home sales in 2011. Both the anecdotal and statistical information indicate that although the luxury niche is small, it is outperforming the market in general.
We have also experienced a significant increase in activity in the luxury market, with more showings of our listings priced above $500,000.  In fact, Jeff Kennedy with our team recently closed the largest residential sale in Arkansas this year.  The transaction all started from our internet marketing of a stunning waterfront estate in Hot Springs, custom-built and owned by Rick Ferguson and his wife, Deanna.  This unique property caught the attention of another savvy businessman, Jeremy Carroll, who also owned some really unique properties throughout the state.  After about 10 months of negotiations between both parties, and several trips to all parts of Arkansas to view the various properties owned by each party, another deal was made which involved the trade of a state park in South Arkansas along with a large amount of cash in exchange for a 13,828 square foot manor in West Little Rock and approximately 26 acres of land behind the home.  Contrary to the news report in February of this year by the Arkansas Business Journal, there were no donkeys or peacocks involved in the trade and the home was much larger than 8,900 square feet.
Even Warren Buffet believes the housing market is on the verge of improvement, and says along with equities, single-family homes are a very attractive investment right now. Appearing live on CNBC's Squawk Box, Buffett tells Becky Quick he'd buy up "a couple hundred thousand" single family homes if it were practical to do so. If held for a long period of time and purchased at low rates, Buffett says houses are even better than stocks.
With rates still at historic lows, real estate is a wise investment.

Market Update on Garland County Residential Sales

the Kennedy Crew ~ — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 02:17:00 GMT

In comparing the residential sales reports for Garland County, it appears that residential sales in Garland County for the first eight months of the year is down as compared to the same period last year. The first quarter of 2011 started out holding steady and appeared to be a mirror image of the same period in 2010. However, the second quarter of 2011 was the down period – whereas we did not see the spike in sales in our area as we normally do with vacation home sales in the summer months. May and June of this year limped along in summer sales, then we had a nice spike in July with an increase in the number of units sold up 24% over June, however it wasn’t enough to increase our year-to-date figures.

Take a look at the below statistics on residential sales in Hot Springs (information obtained from the Hot Springs Board of Realtors®mls). Click here for more detailed information on the Hot Springs market.

Average Days on Market

1/1/10 – 8/31/10: 172

1/1/11 – 8/31/11: 160

Number of Listings Sold

1/1/10 – 8/31/10: 863

1/1/11 – 8/31/11: 832

Average Price of Sold Listings

1/1/10 – 8/31/10: $150,863

1/1/11 – 8/31/11: $148,988

MLS Sold Volume

1/1/10 – 8/31/10: $130,195,229

1/1/11 – 8/31/11: $123,958,794

While this is one of the toughest markets we have seen, our team is still getting the job done. Did you know that the Kennedy Team is currently ranked as the number ONE listing team in sales for 2011? In addition, the Kennedy Team is holding the number ONE position for total residential sales for the combined 4 year (2008 – Aug 2011) recession in our area, selling more than any other Real Estate Agent or Team in Garland County during one of the toughest markets in recent history. While many might say “Gosh, I bet you really took advantage of the foreclosure market with those sales” … It’s not at all true! In fact, very few of those sales were foreclosures – as the Kennedy Team has never sold a “short-sale” and does not specialize in foreclosures.

If you are thinking about selling a home in the Hot Springs area, or know someone interested in selling, we would be glad to help! Please feel free to give us a call anytime 501.655.6247.

Trend Setting in Hot Springs with CARMLS....

the Kennedy Crew ~ — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 04:36:00 GMT

..... Will the other Firms Copy Us?

Back in April of this year, we announced the news about our added service with First Choice Realty offering a huge benefit for our sellers! In case you missed it, we thought we would re-post the news. We're still so excited about this added benefit for our clients now with First Choice Realty!!!

First Choice Realty has joined “CARMLS” – the Cooperative Arkansas Realtors Multiple Listing Service. You’re probably wondering “what does that mean to me”? It means that we have have broadened our marketing plan for our sellers by increasing the exposure to our sellers’ properties by at least 10 times thru this system. This gives our sellers a huge advantage over the competition homes on the market that are listed with other firms in the area. Our sellers’ properties will now be marketed to about 3,500 Realtors throughout the state of Arkansas versus only about 350 Realtors in the city of Hot Springs with our Hot Springs MLS. Then if you think about how many clients each Realtor has, we may have actually increased the marketing of our sellers’ properties by much more than 10 times!

In keeping with the philosophy of placing our clients first, First Choice Realty realizes that limiting the marketing services for our sellers’ properties to only the Hot Springs Realtors thru the Hot Springs MLS is a trend of the past. In 2009, the Hot Springs MLS data reported that almost $13 million in residential sales in the Hot Springs area were sold by “non-mls residents” – or Realtors who hold Arkansas real estate licenses and are not members of the Hot Springs MLS.

While CARMLS has been a hot topic among the Hot Springs Realtors recently, we have found that many of the other real estate firms in the area have mixed feelings opposing it. Our beliefs lean strongly in favor of CARMLS, as we believe it is a huge benefit for our clients. In fact, we felt so strongly in favor that it was a key factor which prompted our recent move to First Choice Realty.

In addition, you will now be able to list property in another area of Arkansas with us at First Choice Realty and we will be able to market your property to the full state of Arkansas, and the same goes for purchasing homes in other areas of the state.

We’re really excited about this new service for our clients. If you are thinking about selling your home and would like to know more, we would be glad to visit with you and share all the details.

Websites Hits are UP! This Could be a Good Sign of Things to Come!

the Kennedy Crew ~ — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:24:00 GMT

Website hits are up! The Kennedy Team's website, www.BestofHotSprings.com expects more than a 33% increase in site hits by the end of January. Historically, this website averages 35,000 hits per month. As of today, with one week remaining in the month, 42,500 hits have been calculated with an average of 1,635 hit per day! That's 470 more hits per day than the usual 1,166! If this increase in web activity continues, and it is expected that it will, The Kennedy Team should have 52,300 hits by the end of January 2009. What a great way to begin the New Year!

The Broker at the main office at Trademark Real Estate, Inc. also reports a swell in activity with increased showings on all of the office listings.

I asked Paulia Kennedy, real estate marketing guru, if she was advertising her listings any differently. Paulia's reply was, "I recently changed our print ads and focused on a professionally designed general print ad in the homes magazines which is different from the other agents' ads showing just little pictures of houses."

Paulia continued to explain, "Another reason for good hits on the site has been the attention paid to our holiday gifts that we sent out in December. We received lots of thank you's along with good referrals." The gift that keeps on giving!

Paulia and the Kennedy Team have a number of new listings this month. I've been posting virtual tours nearly every week. As a result, there are many more Kennedy Team lawn signs out there as well. Paulia said, "We're also getting more people say they see our signs everywhere... (and we've got more signs out there now)."

Along with these results Paulia is confident that the market is changing for the better. She has seen an increase in buyer confidence, and the Kennedy Team is preparing for a booming real estate market in 2009!

Janine Gregor
Virtual Assistant to Paulia Kennedy