The secret is out, Northwest Arkansas has become one of the premiere areas in the nation to live. Rated in multiple websites rankings of top places to live including U.S. News listing Fayetteville as the #5 Best Place to Live in the USA. U.S. News includes the drastic growth that has taken place not only in Fayetteville but also throughout Northwest Arkansas.
"Transformed from a small town to a center of higher education, culture, commerce and entrepreneurialism," U.S News stated.
The transformation that is listed above has been a result of incredible growth to the community and statistics in the real estate industry show how the trends are heading the right way and Northwest Arkansas' biggest names are to thank.
"We have JB Hunt, Tyson Foods and Walmart and all of their vendors with those companies. Then we also have more than 500,000 MSA's for the area. Which brings more business here and puts us on other companys' radar like restaurants, chains and stores," said Suzett Sparks, President of the Northwest Arkansas Board of Realtors.
In semi-annual reports from the Northwest Arkansas Board of Realtors (NABOR), the first six months of this year (January 1st -- June 30), there have been 455 more homes sold and 103 more homes leased than the first six months of 2015. That is an incredible boost within just 18 months.
Similar numbers appear in Washington County where over three hundred more homes have sold and almost two hundred more homes have been leased. Just staggering numbers proving that Northwest Arkansas is growing; and growing fast.
With the growth comes increased prices in houses on the market, which the NABOR reports show are very true. Benton County prices have risen $25,000 since 2015. While Washington County have raised in sales price nearly $20,000.
After years of a struggling real estate market Sparks and other realtors are very thankful for the recent growth.
"It's been amazing, the growth has been amazing! Were back on par with 2005," Sparks said. "It's very exciting."
According to Trulia.com, median sales price on Fayetteville homes is $205,000. This compared to other Northwest Arkansas cities; $157,500 in Springdale, Rogers is $163,000, and Bentonville is the highest of the three with $245,500 median sales price. But, all four of the cities are within a $100,000 of each other in price and only 30 miles geographically.
Truly, one of the coolest parts of Northwest Arkansas is how close to each other each city is which makes commuting and other travel that much simpler. One of the many reasons why Northwest Arkansas growth is currently is showing no signs of slowing down.
For more information on the Northwest Arkansas Board of Realtors (NABOR), go to http://www2.realtoractioncenter.com/site/PageNavigator/armetr_homepage. To reach Suzett Sparks, email her at [email protected].
DiscoverNorthwestArkansas.com on 07/28/2017