Chrissie Wright
When the Great Recession tanked the national economy in 2008, real estate markets from coast to coast suffered deep and epic losses.
The real estate market in Jonesboro took a nosedive during this time, but never completely collapsed, according to numbers released by the Arkansas Realtors Association.
As the economy and real estate markets have improved around the country, northeast Arkansas has had steady growth, Northeast Arkansas Board of Realtors President Chrissie Wright told Arkansas Business.
“We’ve had steady, solid growth,” Wright said. “The market is good right now.”
Numbers released by ARA support Wright’s assertions.
There were 98 new and existing homes sold in Jonesboro in April, a 5.77 percent drop from the previous year, according to the ARA report. Through the first four months of the year 343 homes had been sold, a 1.15 percent drop from the same period in 2015.
Numbers released by ARA do not reflect the totality of real estate activity in any given area but provide a snapshot of the market.
The values of those homes sold in the first four months total $54,807,609, a less than half a percent drop from the previous year, according to ARA.
April was a bad month, however, for values. Houses sold for a total of $14,689,024 during the month, a 13 percent drop from 2015.
The market may seem remarkably consistent, but there have been changes during the last year, Wright said.
Jonesboro has traditionally been a buyer’s market, and that remains true, Wright said. In recent years, sales have been fueled by developments north of town including the new NEA Baptist Hospital and the explosive growth from Jonesboro to Brookland. Other hotbeds of real estate growth include the city’s center, and the Valley View section south of town.
There haven’t been any major projects in the last year that has led buyers to even out across the city, Wright said. Buyers are not congregating in large numbers to any particular part of the city, a reversal from the previous several years.
Homes for sale from $175,000 and down are moving pretty easily right now, she said. Homes priced higher than that are moving more slowly, a big difference from a year ago, she added.
Property values in Jonesboro are not skyrocketing like some in other parts of the country. But home owners can expect a solid 2 to 3 percent return each year on their home investments and no steep decline in the market when a recession or other economic upheaval hits.
“We’re very consistent around here,” Wright said.
Sign up for Daily E-news
