ARA Numbers Skewed

A blanket statement from the Rogers Board of Realtors was recently issued through the Arkansas Realtors Association that said numbers reflecting sales in that area have been skewed.
Ethan Nobles of the ARA, said the housing market report’s numbers for the year-to-date are accurate. However, late entries for units sold have affected the month-to-month figures. Realtors must enter their units sold into the Multiple Listing Service by the 10th of each month to be included in the report.
While a few had been slipping through the cracks for the month-to-month data, the year-to-date data corrects itself. The missed listings wouldn’t have affected the numbers too much and still reflect a 12.5 percent drop in sales when compared to the previous year.
“Because of late entries and corrections in the MLS, the actual number of residential homes sold during a given month is often less than reported,” said Tom Rasmussen, the president of the Rogers Board of Realtors. “All the press this year about the down turn in the residential real estate markets make it sound like we are in for prolonged doom and gloom.”
One thing the issues have done is help to create a single MLS to police all entries and encourage Realtors to file on time. The new MLS, which includes the Bentonville-Bella Vista Board of Realtors, the Metro Board of Realtors (Washington and western Benton Counties) and the Rogers Board of Realtors, will be called the Arkansas MLS.