NWA home sales down almost 15% through June

Home sales through the first six months of 2023 in Northwest Arkansas’ two largest counties are off by double digits compared with the same period last year.

There were 4,887 homes sold through June this year in Benton and Washington counties, down 14.6% from 5,721 homes sold during the same period last year. That’s according to data from the Matrix software platform used by the Northwest Arkansas Board of Realtors (NABOR) and provided to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal by Marcus Necessary, vice president and executive broker with Weichert, Realtors-The Griffin Co.

The combined sales volume this year through June is also down — $2 billion in the first six months this year, compared with $2.2 billion in the first six months of 2022. That’s a drop of nearly 9%.

The NABOR data showed 3,151 home sales worth a combined $1.32 billion in the first six months in Benton County. That compares with 3,715 and $1.48 billion in the same period a year ago.

In Washington County, agents sold 1,736 homes in the first six months of 2023, down from 2,006 in the same period of 2022, with a combined value of $684 million, down from $718.3 million.

However, the average price of each home sale continues to rise in both counties. In Benton County, the average home sale through June was $420,440, up 5.3% from $399,153 in the same period last year. In Washington County, the average home sale price through June was $394,012, up 10% from $358,088.