Skyline Report: NWA housing sector expansion continues

The Northwest Arkansas housing sector continues its economic expansion at a steady and sustainable pace, according to the Arvest Bank sponsored Skyline Report that examined data from the second half of 2014. The report was made public on Thursday (April 2).

“We see a good level of activity everywhere throughout the market,” said Kathy Deck, lead researcher for the Skyline Report at the Center for Business and Economic Research at University of Arkansas. “Even though the number of building permits is down a little bit, we make up for it in the overall economic expansion. We had gotten down to a place where completed inventory was depleted. Our inventory numbers are now more consistent with the expansion we are seeing in the recovery.”

The report indicates that building permits declined 4.2% from the year-ago period, while home sales rose 8.3% during the same period. The sustainable absorption rate helped to push up home prices in Benton and Washington counties.

Benton County posted a 7.6% rise in its price per square foot in the back half of 2014. The average price-per-foot was $88.61 compared to $83.39 a year before. In Washington County the average price-per-foot increased to $89.30, a gain of 1.6% from the year-over-year period.

The sold price of existing houses on the market were mixed in Benton and Washington counties compared with the first half of the year.

Benton County: $188,084, up 8.2%
Washington County: $178,774, down 2.9%

In total, 3,691 existing homes were sold in Benton and Washington counties during the last six months of 2014, an increase of 8.3% from the 3,407 sold during the same time period of 2013.

Jennie Hill, senior vice president and real estate manager for Arvest Bank in Benton County, said that the increasing demand and cost of existing homes in the two-county market is an indication that the supply of newly constructed houses within the same average price range is behind the demand curve for the area.