Housing market off to fast start in NWA
by February 20, 2020 12:26 pm 1,887 views
New data from the Northwest Arkansas Board of Realtors (NABOR) indicates the housing market in the two-county area is off to a strong start in 2020.
According to the latest figures, real estate agents in Benton and Washington counties finished the first month of 2020 by combining to sell 747 homes in the area, with a sales volume of $185.11 million. That’s up 39.1% from 537 home sales ($121.23 million) in the two-county region in January 2019.
The data is from the Matrix software platform used by NABOR.
Benton County reported 451 home sales with a sales volume of $113.59 million. That compares to 338 home sales and $77.25 million in the year-ago period. In Washington County, agents sold 296 homes in January — up from 199 last year — with a cumulative value of $71.52 million, up from $43.97 million.
Home prices continue to skyrocket. The average single-family home price in Benton County last month was $251,866, up 10.2% from $228,578 in January 2019. To further underscore the increase, the average single-family home price in Benton County in January 2017 was $185,200.
The average home price last month in Washington County was $241,638. That’s up 9.3% from $220,967 in January 2019.
Median home prices in Benton County — the middle price of the market — shot up nearly 12% in January. Half the homes sold for more than $217,980 and half sold for less. Washington County’s median sales price last month was $196,324, up less than 1% from $195,000 in the year-ago period.
There were 14 homes sales of at least $500,000 in January. The region’s most expensive home sale last month was in Fayetteville. Former University of Arkansas basketball coach Mike Anderson sold his Bridgewater Estates property for $2.5 million. UA football coach Sam Pittman is the new owner.