Spring has sprung and that means the busy season for home buying and selling is in full bloom.

New-home sales rose 26 percent in April compared to April 2017, according to Chandler Reports data, and the average sales price increased 27 percent. (Daily News File/Alan Howell)

In April, the average home sales price rose to $168,835, a 7 percent increase from April a year ago, according to real estate information company Chandler Reports, chandlerreports.com.

The volume of home sales in April reached $280 million, up 21 percent from $232 million a year ago, according to Chandler Reports data.

Eads’ 38028 ZIP code recorded the highest average price, at $860,750.

Meanwhile, number of units sold year-over-year was up 13 percent in April, with 1,468 sales recorded for the month. 

“Price are a little bit higher than they were this time last year, so I think we’re poised for a good spring and summer,” Marx-Bensdorf Realtor and president of the Memphis Area Association of Realtors’ board of directors Lauren Harkins Wiuff said.

While it remains a seller’s market, Wiuff said that doesn’t mean today’s buyers will just accept any asking price. 

“It is a seller’s market, but the buyers are so extremely savvy,” she said. “You can’t overprice your home and just expect it to move – you have to price your house right. The market is somewhat unforgiving to people who are trying to take advantage of the supply and demand.”

There were 1,583 existing-home sales in April, up 13 percent compared to 1,406 in April 2017. The average price of existing homes sold, meanwhile, reached $157,674 in April, up 4 percent from $151,411 a year ago.

Sales of new homes rose 26 percent for the month, with 78 sales recorded compared with 62 in April 2017. The average price of a new home also rose 27 percent to $394,867. 

Arlington’s 38002 ZIP code and Collierville’s 38017 ZIP code recorded the most new-home sales for April, each with 19 sales averaging $324,334 and $516,713, respectively. 

BUILDING PERMITS

Developers pulled 196 new-home permits averaging $307,704 in in the first quarter of the year, down 14 percent year-over-year from 2017.

Regency Home Builders was the top builder in Q1 with 45 new-home sales recorded averaging $360,623 and 35 new-home permits filed averaging $313,484.

Collierville’s 38017 ZIP code had the most new home permits in Q1 with 49 permits averaging $382,532.

“The numbers are down, but I would take that with a grain of salt, because so much stuff had to be pushed back because of the poor weather, especially in February,” Griffin Elkington, principal of Griffin Elkington Residential Construction and Development, said. 

Elkington, whose business primarily focuses on residential infill development within the I-240 Loop, said that despite the weather, he has a lot of projects in the pipeline. Some of his houses are selling within a couple of weeks of being completed, meaning that the demand is still there.

“I think you’re going to see a big pop in sales maybe a couple of months later than normal,” he said. 

FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY

Shelby County residential foreclosures continued to drop in April, according to Chandler Reports, with 125 recorded for the month – a 16 percent decrease from the 149 last April.

Of those 125, the average foreclosure amount was $80,420. 

Southeast Shelby County’s 38125 ZIP code had the highest foreclosure inventory value of $15 million across 84 properties, while Westwood’s 38109 ZIP code had the most homes in foreclosure inventory through April with 161 valued at $6.6 million.

Among lenders, Fannie Mae had the highest foreclosure inventory, with 123 homes valued at $13 million.

Bank sales – or foreclosure sales – represented 6 percent of all Shelby County homes sold in April. The 103 bank sales recorded last month marked a 9 percent decrease year over year. The volume of bank sales rose 5 percent to $10,442,357.

Meanwhile, the volume of non-bank sales increased 21 percent to $270 million.

MORTGAGES 

Residential mortgages filed at the time of sale were up 20 percent in April, with 1,041 loans recorded compared to 867 recorded in April 2017.

The average mortgage amount was $193,809, with an average sales price of $219,552, making the average loan-to-value ratio 88 percent.

Collierville’s 38017 ZIP code had the most residential loans recorded at the time of sale with 98 mortgages averaging $329,666.

The top lenders in April based on the total number of residential mortgages filed at the time of sale were Community Mortgage Corp. with 78 loans, IberiaBank with 58 loans and Pinnacle Bank with 55 loans.

Loans from private lenders were down 29 percent from last year, with 42 recorded for the month averaging $82,863.

Chandler Reports is a division of The Daily News Publishing Co.