Despite rising mortgage rates and fewer listings, home prices continued to climb in most of Northwest Arkansas’ ZIP codes from July to October, according to data from Zillow.
What’s happening: The national housing market has cooled somewhat since the Federal Reserve started raising rates this summer in an effort to curb inflation.
- Nationally, new listings for homes were down 35% in October compared to a year earlier.
Why it matters: As housing prices and rents climb, it becomes harder for lower- and even middle-range wage earners to afford to buy a home or rent an apartment in NWA.
- Earlier this year, urbanist Richard Florida pointed out the area could fall victim to its own economic success if it doesn’t create more attainable housing.
Of note: Excellerate Foundation and the Northwest Arkansas Council’s Center for Workforce Housing are focused on the issue.
By the numbers: NWA areas with with the biggest price increases in July through October:
- Kingston area: 4.7%, from $152,200 to $159,300.
- Garfield area: 4.4%, from $390,300 to $407,300.
- Bentonville area: 3.7%, from $431,900 to $447,700.
- Decatur area: 3.6%, from $213,800 to $221,400.
- Pettigrew area: 3.7%, from $141,600 to $146,800.
Yes, and: Prices were down slightly in NWA’s more rural areas.
- Home prices in the Evansville area — the extreme southwest portion of NWA — dropped 4%, from $228,100 to $219,100.
- Meanwhile, prices in the Canehill ZIP code were down 2.4%, from $227,400 to $222,100.
Flashback: The average home price in NWA was $385, 821 as of June, up 27% from a year previous, according to the residential Skyline Report.
Go deeper: There’s an interactive version of the map above on our website, so you can see just how much things have changed in your ZIP code.
