jonesboro market heading in the right direction?
By Ethan C. Nobles, director of media relations for Arkansas Realtors Association

While no one is in the mood to start talking about trends, it does at least seem that the housing market in the Jonesboro area is heading in the right direction this year.

Through May 15, the average sales price of a single-family residence in Craighead County was $142,730 – up 2.6 percent from an average of $139,112. Also, through May 15, 326 homes were sold in Craighead County – down 6.3 percent a year ago.

In other words, only 22 fewer homes were sold through May 15 in Craighead County this year and prices continue to rise. Meanwhile, the number of homes for sale in the area dropped from 679 on May 19 last year to 618 on May 18 this year. The average list price increased to $201,822 on May 18 from $189,196 last year.

Any Realtor® out there will tell you that increasing list prices and decreasing inventories are good signs. Another good sign is that sellers are generally getting close to their list prices for homes.

Looking through May 15 again, the average sales price of $142,730 was 95.7 percent of the $149,116 average list price. Naturally, sellers want to see that list price to sales price ratio improve, but there are still part of the country where homeowners are watching homes sit empty unless they take offers that are substantially below list prices.

The housing market data from the Jonesboro area is certainly encouraging, but there are a couple of questions that should be addressed. For one thing, why was the average list price on May 15 $201,725 while the average sales price this year has been around $142,730?

Simply put, sales prices just cover what homes are actually sold whereas list prices provide a snapshot of all properties for sale. The fact the average sales price is less than the list price tells us that less expensive homes are selling faster than ones in higher price ranges.

Realtors® have mentioned that homes costing $200,000 or less are moving fairly well right now and that certainly appears to be the case in the Jonesboro market. Out of the 103 homes sold between April 15 and May 15, 81 of them – or 78.6 percent of them – were priced at $200,000 or less. The homes above that price range tend to sit on the market longer, thus driving up the average list price at any given time.

What is encouraging is that the inventory levels in Jonesboro appear to better reflect what homes people are buying than in the past. As of May 18, there were 606 homes for sale in Jonesboro and 405 of them – or 66.8 percent of them – were priced at $200,000 or less.

Inventory, in other words, appears to be adjusting to demand to an extent. Ideally, the market will reach a point where inventory reflects demand very well and homes at all price points will move quicker.

Certainly, excess inventory is still an issue in most markets. In Jonesboro, at least, we’ve not seen any sharp increases in the number of homes for sale and that suggests that homes are being absorbed by the market fairly well. It’s worth mentioning that drops in the number of homes for sale in the Jonesboro area have dropped as average list prices have increased.

When you consider that average list prices are increasing and sellers are realizing a comparatively healthy 95 percent of their asking prices for homes, it appears the market in Jonesboro continues to move in the right direction.

Again, there is room for improvement in the area housing market. Still, one can’t help but hope a trend is emerging and we’ll start seeing gains in sales again.