From the President, Don Burris

Burris Appraisal Company (BAC) has experienced a busy 2021. You’d have to live in a bubble to be unaware that the real estate industry has seen record growth in terms of transactions and price changes over the past 12 months or so.

In Sebastian County over the past 12 months (07/31/2020 – 08/01/2021), there were 2,067 transactions[1] reported through MLS with an average sales price of $198,871.00.  For the 12 months prior, (07/31/2019-08/01/2020) transactions totaled 1,735 with an average price of $164,958.00. That’s +19% as to transactions and +21% as to sales price. The median sales price achieved in the most recent year was 100% while the prior year was 98%. However, after some bidding wars on popular properties, there are many instances where the sales price significantly exceeded the list price.

Supply and demand imbalance (shortage of listings) as well as historic low interest rates have combined to form this “unique” environment. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your position in the transaction (buyer or seller) this trend is not sustainable. Most analysts believe the sharp increases in price and the shortage of listings will moderate in coming months. We already see some indicators of such. Fed policy, which affects interest rates, will likely move to tighten monetary supply by, in part,  increasing key interest rates in an effort to curb the dreaded inflation factor.

While no one can predict the future, we should agree that the one constant in the real estate industry is change! We just have to adapt and meet the challenges as they come.

BAC has seen some advancements among our staff this year. Our COO and managing partner, Angela Hartwig, SRA, a Certified Residential Appraiser, achieved her State Certified General Appraiser license in Arkansas and Oklahoma allowing her to independently appraise all property types including residential, commercial, industrial and multifamily property, regardless of transaction amount. It was quite an accomplishment requiring independent study, classes (during Covid) experience logs, interview with the State Licensing Board and testing. All while managing BAC and a household with three of six children still at home! We are very proud of her accomplishments and leadership. Angela, an Arkansas Tech graduate with a double major in Business Administration and French is also co-owner of BAC. We appreciate her leadership and vision.

Jeremy Smith recently attained his Certified Residential Appraiser license for Arkansas and Oklahoma. Jeremy started with BAC in August of 2019 with impeccable credentials; a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arkansas in Finance with a Real Estate emphasis. He was also a member of the Sam M. Walton College of Business. As an appraiser trainee, his dedicated pursuit of education and experience resulted in his attainment of his Certified Residential Appraiser credential in near record time. Jeremy has been a valuable addition to the appraisal staff here at BAC. Congratulations!

In the not too distant future, we’ll have announcements concerning additional appraiser trainees!

As if the pace of business and professional development was not enough for us at BAC in 2021, we made a physical move in July of this year. We purchased a building at 410 Lexington Avenue in Fort Smith. Our new facility will allow us room to continue to grow. Here are just a few pictures of our new facility. 

 
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions or needs for valuation services.

Don Burris

President, Burris Appraisal Company, Inc.