NWA Residential Market Stabilizing, Analyst Says

Northwest Arkansas’ residential real estate market remains stable as the inventory of homes for sale continues to drop, market analyst Paul R. Bynum wrote in a recent report.

Bynum, the owner and principal broker of Mount Data Real Estate, states in his June report on Benton and Washington counties that 3,509 homes were on the market at the end of May. That’s down 6 percent from May 2012, and down 51 percent from the “glut” of August 2007.

Bynum said in a video version of his report that 2,705 homes were sold in the first five months of the year, for a total volume of about $482 million — up 24 percent from the same time last year.

The median sale price year to date is up 9 percent at $147,000, at an average $84 per SF.

At the end of May, the months of inventory index stood at 6.8, he said.

The months of inventory index, or ratio of buyers to available homes, is a strong indicator of the health of a real estate market, Bynum states. Five to six months’ supply shows a stable market, with more indicating a buyer’s market and less indicating a seller’s market.

The data for the three months from March 1 through May 31 shows Bentonville had the largest percentage — 26.9 percent — of new-home sales in the region.

Of the 324 homes sold in that city during that period, 237 were previously owned, selling for a median price of $163,500.

On the other hand, 87 new homes were sold in Bentonville from March through May, at a median price of $274,900.

But the biggest movers in the two-county area are in the $100,000-to-$125,000 range. Through the end of May, 359 homes sold in that price range, and Bynum states that homes priced at less than $100,000 are currently in a seller’s market.

From March through May, home sales took an average of 45 days from listing to contract. Buyers paid 97.2 percent of the list price for a home in that period.