LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – With a reported decline in the housing market nation-wide, Arkansas is managing to stay slightly ahead of the national rate of falling prices.

Real estate website Redfin.com is reporting rising mortgage rates and economic uncertainty affecting the housing market. These factors led to new listings of homes nation-wide falling by 15% into August, the biggest annual decline since the pandemic began. Home prices have dropped 5% and sale prices dropped 6% for the same period, the website reports.

The national average price for a home was $371,125, down from June’s $394,775 record high average.  

The same review shows Arkansas housing prices for single-family homes are up 15.7% from a year ago, with a median sale price of $258,300. In the 12-month July-July period, however, the number of homes sold was at a 14% decrease, with 2,819 homes sold.

Through July, Arkansas had 8,721 homes for sale, down 18% from the previous 12-month period. With the number of new listings at 3,486, Arkansas is down 10.3% for the same 12-month period.

Houses are selling faster. Median days on the market for Arkansas homes was 23, which was down 17 days from the previous 12-month cycle.

Biggest increase in home sale prices in the past year were for Fayetteville, which saw a 36.4% increase, and Hot Springs Village, at a 35% increase. Pine Bluff is another community where prices are rising, seeing a 24% increase and putting it ahead of Maumelle with its 23% increase.

Google shows search terms for “Homes in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas” and “Homes in Rogers,
Arkansas” are both trending.

Arkansas has counties both above and below the 15.7% state-wide price growth figure and $258,000 home price average. Pulaski County has a comparatively small 5.9% increase with a $215,000 average home sale price for the same period. Faulkner County, to its north, is at 7.9% with homes at $240,000 average.

Jefferson County has a 9.5% increase over 12 months, with $143,500 for the average home sale.

On the other side of the county scale, Benton County is well past the 15.7% figure, with a 21.5% figure against average home prices at $350,000. Garland County is also above the curve with a 21.3% increase at an average sale price of $270,000.

Drilling down to cities, the numbers above and below the average grow even wider. Little Rock has one of the smallest increases with 1.7% and an average home sale of $234,000. Conway is at 12.1% with a $255,000 home average.

Pine Bluff is striking, with a 24% increase in home cost in the past 12 months against an average home sale cost of $137,000.

The already-mentioned Fayetteville and its 36.4% increase, the highest in the state, has an average home sale of $375,000 for the past 12 months.