Second Home Market Struggles in Bella Vista

Real estate agents tend to agree that 2008 and 2009 – the worst years of the recession for the housing market – were a slog for second homes. In the state’s most popular vacation regions, the market has started to bounce back. In Bella Vista, however, it’s dead.

Sandy Bates has been in the business since 1986. She is a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Harris McHaney & Faucette in Bentonville.

"In Bella Vista, being a recreational resort and bedroom community, it was a very nice place to have a second home," Bates said. "However, that market has dried up."

Since the first of the year, Bates has had one buyer interested in a second home, she said. And it’s like that across the board.

"I pulled a couple of other agents into the office … their response was the same," she said. "We don’t have anybody looking at second homes anymore."

In better times, secondary homes accounted for about a tenth of Bates’ market, she said. There was a boom in 2003 and 2004, when buyers would purchase houses to occupy only a couple months of the year and rent out for the rest.

But then, Bella Vista incorporated, and that drove off speculators.

"I think there was kind of a wait-and-see, to see how that was going to affect property values," Bates said. "Then we got the poor market conditions, and the two of them together just killed us."

Now, Bates said, her overall market is healthy, and there’s a chance Bella Vista’s secondary home market may be resurrected.

"Interest rates are low, and we are finally starting to see a little bit of new construction," she said. "When people start investing in new construction, it’s always a good sign."