Home Sales In Arkansas’ Large Markets Up Nearly 7% In First Half Of 2015

The first half of 2015 ended strong for home sales in Arkansas’ four largest markets, with the number of homes sold up almost 10% and the value of the home sales up almost 15% in June.

The number of homes sold in Arkansas’ four largest markets during the first six months of the year is up almost 7% and the value of the homes sold is up almost 13%.

“It looks really great,” Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas, said the The City Wire’s Arkansas Home Sales Report. “We see solid gains in all major areas. That’s really good news.”

Deck said both the month-to-month and year-to-year reports that show gains in terms of sales and prices are more evidence that the economic expansion continues for Arkansas. She also said it is encouraging to see such significant gains in June 2015 compared to June 2014 as that month is part of the “high season” in the summer when sales are typically the strongest of the year.

The City Wire’s Arkansas Home Sales Report captures home sales data in the state’s 14 most populated counties within its four largest metro areas — Central Arkansas, the Fort Smith area, Jonesboro/Northeast Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas. The report, which records closed sales, accounts for between 70% and 75% of total Arkansas home sales.

YEAR-TO-DATE NUMBERS
The number of homes sold in the four markets in the January-June period totaled 11,108, up 6.95% from 10,386 in the same period of 2014, and up 11.16% compared to the same period in 2013. In the January-June period, home sales were up 3.3% in central Arkansas, up 3.38% in the Fort Smith metro, up 5.02% in the Jonesboro metro and up 13.69% in Northwest Arkansas.

The total value of January-June home sales in the four markets was $1.902 billion, up 12.9% compared to the same period in 2014 and up 14.12% compared to the 2013 period.

It continues to be more of a seller’s market in the four areas. The average price for homes in the four markets was $171,256 in the January-June period, up 5.56% compared to the same period in 2014, and up 2.66% compared to the same period in 2013. For the year-to-date period, the average sales price in the four large markets ranged from a high of $199,984 in Benton County to a low of $94,752 in Jefferson County.

The average days on market during the January-June period was 95.75, down slightly from the 97.07 in the same period of 2014, and up from 94.86 in the same period of 2013.

ALL MARKETS UP IN JUNE
June home sales in the four markets totaled 2,340, up 9.76% compared to June 2014, and up 20.25% compared to June 2013. The average price per home in the four markets during June was $180,937, up 4.49% compared to June 2014, and up 2.65% compared to June 2013. The total value of sales in the four markets during June was $423.391 million, up 14.68% compared to June 2014 and up 23.44% compared to June 2013.

The number of homes sold and the value of the sales were up in all four markets during June.

There were 1,077 homes sold in central Arkansas, up 8.57% compared to June 2014, and up 16.31% compared to June 2013.

June home sales totaled 813 in Northwest Arkansas, up 10.91% compared to June 2014, and up 17.15% compared to June 2013.

Jonesboro area home sales totaled 250, up 19.05% compared to June 2014 and up 46.2% compared to June 2013.

In the Fort Smith area, home sales totaled an even 200, up 1.52% compared to June 2014, and up 29.03% compared to June 2013.

Higher average home prices helped boost total sales in all four markets. The total value of the sales during June were up 10.53% in central Arkansas, up 19.44% in Northwest Arkansas, up 23.22% in the Jonesboro area, and up 5.66% in the Fort Smith region.

THE REGIONAL PICTURE: January-June 2015
Central Arkansas — Home sales
Jan.-June 2015: 5,101
Jan.-June 2014: 4,938
Jan.-June 2013: 4,822

Fort Smith area — Home sales
Jan.-June 2015: 991
Jan.-June 2014: 954
Jan.-June 2013: 790

Jonesboro area — Home sales
Jan.-June 2015: 1,129
Jan.-June 2014: 1,075
Jan.-June 2013: 901

Northwest Arkansas — Home sales
Jan.-June 2015: 3,887
Jan.-June 2014: 3,419
Jan.-June 2013: 3,480

The top five counties in terms of January-June 2015 home sales:
Benton — 2,457, up compared to 2,178 in January-June 2014
Pulaski — 2,394, up compared to 2,305 in January-June 2014
Washington — 1,430, up compared to 1,241 in January-June 2014
Craighead — 928, up compared to 844 in January-June 2014
Faulkner — 761, up compared to 682 in January-June 2014

THE 2014 PICTURE
There were 21,447 homes sold in Arkansas’ four largest markets in 2014, up 3.8% over 2013 and up 17.33% over 2012. The total value of homes sold in the four markets during 2014 was $3.554 billion, up 3.24% over 2013 and up 18.97% compared to 2012.

Gains in the number of homes sold in 2014 certainly varied by market.

Sales totaled 9,904 in central Arkansas, up 2.32%. In the Fort Smith region, which has an economy not yet on stable footing, home sales were up a surprising 14.33% for the year.