The low number of foreclosures and the value of area homes helped Northwest Arkansas earn the 19th spot on the 20 Most Secure U.S. Places to Live, a ranking by Farmers Insurance Group of Companies.
The ranking also considered crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, air quality, terrorist threats, environmental hazards, life expectancy and job loss.
"We worked through that period of time when foreclosures and distressed properties were pulling other property values down," said Ron Stinchcomb, a Realtor with Coldwell Bank Harris McHaney & Faucette. "Those homeowners who purchased the past few years are seeing appreciation of their assets."
The area had 604 foreclosures last year, down 91 percent from the peak of 6,984 in 2010, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosed property.
Home sales reached 7,269 last year, according to MountData, a real estate data firm. Real estate agents sold 7,230 homes in 2013.
"The home market is good and getting stronger," said Paul Bynum, MountData owner and principal broker.
Median prices for homes also increased 3.9 percent between December 2013 and December 2014, according to CoreLogic, an information and analytics firm. Sam Khater, deputy chief economist for CoreLogic, said Northwest Arkansas' housing market is following the national trend of values. He said home prices increased 5 percent nationally.
"I expect home price growth to moderate in the coming months," he said.
Prices rose nationally because of a shrinking number of available homes for sale, something also happening in Northwest Arkansas. Khater said people tend to move less often than they did a couple of decades ago, leaving fewer options for buyers.
MountData reports 803 new listings and 610 pending sales at the end of January, compared to 883 new listings and 540 pending sales a year earlier, pointing to a tightening market, Bynum said.
He said the area's median sales price last year was $154,500, up from $149,800 in 2013. The median price increased to $155,450 in January.
Bentonville claimed the area's highest median sales price last year at $219,350, a 10 percent increase from 2013.
Existing homes account for 87 percent of all sales and had a median sales price of $144,740. The median price for newly constructed homes was $222,498.
The strength of Northwest Arkansas' housing market helped it rank third in RealtyTrac's 2013 report on the "Best Housing Markets for Health and Wealth."
The report compared various health parameters, such as obesity and smoking rates, in metropolitan statistical areas with the highest potential for home price appreciation. It also looked at an area's unemployment rate and foreclosure discounts, or the difference in the median sales price of a distress versus a nondistressed property.
The report predicted the area's home prices will increase 23 percent in the next three years.
"I think the market is trying to find a new normal," said Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac vice president.
NW News on 03/29/2015