Straight Shooting Real Estate

On June 8, combined average list prices in four major Arkansas markets dropped slightly while inventories — the number of homes for sale — increased slightly.

On June 8, there were 12,010 homes for sale in those four markets, up slightly from 11,905 single family, new and existing residences in the previous week. The average list price, meanwhile, was $232,342, down slightly from $232,823 in the previous week. The only market of the four surveyed where the average list price increased was the Jonesboro area.

Still, we’re seeing the trend that has been developing since the first of the year continue — average list prices are increasing while inventories have remained relatively flat over the past six months. Why? Realtors throughout Arkansas have observed that houses are moving quite well at the low and middle price ranges, thus keeping inventory in line.

More expensive homes — houses priced at around $200,000 and above in most areas — are moving slower, thus putting upward pressure on average list prices. It seems first time home buyers attracted by low interest rates and the $8,000 first time home buyer’s tax credit are turning out in droves and shopping for homes in the middle and lower price ranges.

Every week, the Arkansas Realtors Association collects and distributes the average and median list prices and the number of homes in inventory (homes for sale) for single family, new and existing houses in four markets. Those markets are Benton and Washington counties in Northwest Arkansas, the Fort Smith/Van Buren areas (Crawford and Sebastian counties) in west Arkansas, the Jonesboro area (Craighead County) in northeast Arkansas and the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area (Faulkner, Grant, Lonoke, Perry, Pulaski and Saline counties) in central Arkansas. While those four markets don’t tell the whole story, looking at them together gives us a pretty good idea about developing trends in markets throughout the state.