Sebastian County ranks better than US average on home affordability

BusinessFinanceFort Smith

by Talk Business & Politics staff ([email protected]) ago 22 views 

The percentage of income needed to own a median-priced home in Sebastian County during the third quarter of 2025 was 25.4%, well below the national average of 33.3%, according to the latest housing affordability report from ATTOM.

Sebastian County ranked 441 out of 580 counties that Irvine, Calif.-based ATTOM reviewed for its recent housing affordability and market risk report.

According to the ATTOM report, the median price of a Sebastian County home in the third quarter of 2025 was $215,000, below the national average median price of $375,000. The report indicated there were 20,973 active mortgages in the county during the third quarter, with 0.03% of those in a foreclosure action and 5.9% of those considered underwater. The national average was 0.07% and 2.8%, respectively.

The report shows that 16 of the 50 highest risk markets were in California, followed by nine in New Jersey, four in Florida, and three each in Arizona and Texas. Risk was determined by affordability, proportion of seriously underwater mortgages, foreclosure rates, and county unemployment rates. An underwater mortgage means more is owed on a home than it is worth.

“A lot of attention has, deservedly, gone to affordability concerns stemming from the rising price of homes,” ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said in the report. “But what really separated the riskiest markets in our third quarter assessment were their high rates of foreclosures and unemployment. If a community is losing jobs, those homeowners will find it harder to pay their monthly mortgage bills. That means more foreclosures, which can hurt the broader local housing market.”

The most recent unemployment rate for the Fort Smith metro was 4.1% in August, up from 3.6% in August 2024. Nonfarm job numbers in August were an estimated 103,600, up from 102,600 in August 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Following are the third-quarter data on other Arkansas counties in the ATTOM report, listed by rank.

Garland County
Rank: 216
Median price: $259,750
Percentage of income needed to own a home: 35.7%
Percentage of home mortgages underwater: 3.8%

Faulkner County
Rank: 390
Median price: $250,000
Percentage of income needed to own a home: 32.8%
Percentage of home mortgages underwater: 6.6%

Pulaski County
Rank: 391
Median price: $223,387
Percentage of income needed to own a home: 23.5%
Percentage of home mortgages underwater: 6%

Craighead County
Rank: 442
Median price: $198,000
Percentage of income needed to own a home: 25.1%
Percentage of home mortgages underwater: 6.6%

Washington County
Rank: 492
Median price: $341,675
Percentage of income needed to own a home: 37%
Percentage of home mortgages underwater: 2.9%

Benton County
Rank: 552
Median price: $360,000
Percentage of income needed to own a home: 27.4%
Percentage of home mortgages underwater: 3%

Following are other national findings from the ATTOM report.

  • Covering the purchase and monthly costs of a median priced home would have required at least half of the typical county resident’s annual wages in 19.8% (115) of the 580 counties with sufficient data to analyze. And in 63.1% (366) of the counties, a median priced home required at least a third of the typical resident’s wages.
  • The counties with the riskiest housing markets in ATTOM’s analysis were Butte County, Calif.;Humboldt County, Calif.; Charlotte County, Fla.; Shasta County, Calif.; and El Dorado County, Calif. The five counties all had unemployment rates at or above 5.1% and at least one foreclosure for every 806 homes.
  • Of the 50 least risky counties in ATTOM’s third quarter analysis, seven were in Wisconsin, five were in Tennessee, and four each were in Montana, New Hampshire, and Virginia.
  • Kings County, N.Y., was the least affordable in the analysis, with median home expenses equaling 113% of typical wages. It was followed by Santa Cruz County, Calif. (111.8% of typical wages); Marin County, Calif. (101.3% of typical wages); Monterey County, Calif. (96.8% of typical wages); and Maui County, Hawaii (94% of typical wages).
  • Louisiana continues to be the center of many of the worst underwater rates in the nation. Of the 50 counties in ATTOM’s analysis with the highest seriously underwater rates, 14 were in Louisiana, followed by six in Illinois, five in Pennsylvania, and four in Arkansas.