Arkansas Business

The Arkansas Realtors Association said Monday that September home sales were down 6 percent compared to the same month last year, while the average price of homes sold rose more than 7 percent.

Click here to view a PDF of the full report.

According to a news release, 1,971 homes sold in in the 43-county area surveyed by the association. That's down 6.2 percent from the 1,044 that sold during the same month last year.

The association also said the average price of the homes sold increased from $146,694 in September 2011 to $157,794 in September 2012. Statewide valuations in September rose by more than 9 percent from last year, the report said.

Among to the top five markets for home sales:

• Pulaski County sold 306 homes in September, down 9.7 percent from the same month last year.
• Benton County sold 298 homes, down 2.3 percent.
• Washington County sold 169 homes, down 13.7 percent.
• Saline County sold 131 homes, up 8.2 percent.
• Sebastian County sold 98 homes, up 18.0 percent.

Year-to-date, home sales in Arkansas were flat, down 0.5 percent. According to the top five markets for year-to-date homes sales, sales look like this:

• Pulaski County sold 3,157 homes, up 4.7 percent from the same time last year.
• Benton County sold 2,873 homes, up 3.4 percent.
• Washington County sold 1,753 homes, down 1.6 percent.
• Saline County sold 1,045 homes, up 0.7 percent.
• Faulknew County sold 923 homes, up 1.3 percent.

The report also showed Izard County as having the highest average prices for the month at $269,500 -- up from $75,975 during the same month last year. The September 2012 valuation came on the county's one home sale. In September last year, the county recored four home sales.

Other highest average prices for the month were:

• Garland County at $193,724, up 12.6 percent from September 2011.
• Pulaski County at $189,649, up 6.7 percent.
• Benton County at $184,701, up 17.8 percent.
• Saline County at $178,340, up 7.8 percent.