Arkansas home sales in 2015 increased 10.6 percent from a year earlier, as the state's real estate market continues to improve from post-recession levels.
There were 31,470 homes sold in 2015, up from 28,453 in 2014, according to data released Tuesday by the Arkansas Realtors Association. The association surveys home sales in 43 of the largest counties in Arkansas.
"We saw quite a surge in home sales," said Michael Pakko, chief economist at the Institute for Economic Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
The number of homes sold in December rose 19.7 percent, compared with December 2014. There were 2,521 homes sold in December 2015, compared with 2,107 during the same month in 2014, according to the association.
Pakko said the increase in home sales for all of 2015 showed strong improvement in the state's real estate market. He said home sales were up 30 percent from 2012.
"We really did experience a severe decline during the recession and even into what was essentially the economic recovery period," Pakko said. "We're back to what we can consider a healthy real estate market in Arkansas."
The average home price in December was $155,501, down slightly from $155,755 in December 2014. For all of 2015, home sales averaged $160,356, up from $156,099 in 2014.
"The trend of increasing sales, and strongly increasing sales, is something we've been seeing all year. It's been combined with modest price increases," said Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Several counties, especially those in central Arkansas, saw home sales improve by double-digits.
There were 119 homes sold in Faulkner County in December, up 60.8 percent from the previous year. With 483 homes sold in the month, Benton County saw sales increase 37.6 percent. And in Pulaski County, 385 homes were sold in December, a 19.2 percent increase from December 2014.
The counties that saw significant gains in home sales are areas where there has been a lot of job growth, Deck said.
"The overall economy in Arkansas has been relatively good," Deck said. "When you see big numbers like that in economic engines, it's reinforcement. It shows that a lot of good numbers means it's attractive for people to move."
Pakko said he expects the real estate market to continue to improve in 2016.
"There's still room for sales to be higher this year than they were last year," he said. "In part, I think the timing of interest rate changes will be a factor in this year's market."
Business on 03/09/2016