Real Estate Update for Period Ending 8/31/2023
This report covers the current activities against the same time frame last year, in this case, August of 2022 against August of 2023. It also reflects the 2022, 2021, 2020 & 2019 annual results. I also break down sales for single-family properties by county and provide some additional granular data based on the current month.
Hot Springs Village
Single Family Properties Closed in August 2023
- 56 closed in August – 373 for YTD 2023
- Available for sale = 73 (As of Sept. 1, 2023)
- Average selling price – $359,026
- Median selling price – $327,750
- Average selling price per square foot – $159.44
- Average days on the market – 34
- Under contract – 46
- Taking backup offers – 20
Seven (7) of the homes closed in August 2023 were new builds, making the total closed for 2023 at 52. The average selling price of these seven homes was $409,243 or $182.02 per square foot; however, one sold for $149.02 psf, which lowered the overall psf number.
Only seven (7) new builds remain in the current inventory of homes available for sale.
Single Family Properties Closed in August 2022
- 58 closed – 438 for YTD 2022
- Average selling price – $341,739
- Median selling price – $299,012
- Average price per square foot – $150.61
- Average days on the market – 18
On a YTD 2023 basis, 373 single-family homes have closed, compared to 438 closed 2022. Of the 373, 185 were closed in Saline County at an average selling price of $424.450 or $174.02 psf. One hundred eighty-eight (188) have been closed in Garland County at an average selling price of $272,489 or $139.51 psf.
State of HSV Market
- On a YTD 2023 basis, we have closed 65 fewer single-family homes and 21 fewer townhomes, which results in closings being down 20% year-over-year.
- YTD, 2023 reflects that the sales price is now 97.4% of the asking price, further reinforcing that prices are now stabilizing, whereas last year, the selling price was 99% of the asking price.
- Keep in mind that rising mortgage rates and economic uncertainty continue to impact the housing market.
NOTE: Keep in mind that these numbers only include transactions that have gone through the MLS and, as such, will not include those where lot owners have contracted directly with a builder or someone has sold FSBO.
Condos/Townhome Sales
Five (5) townhomes were closed in August 2023 at an average selling price of $139,900 or $114.37 psf. As noted above, year-over-year, townhome sales are down by 21 properties. The relatively good news is that on a ytd basis, the average selling price of townhomes is within $532 of where it was at this same time period last year.
Lot Sales
In August 2023, there were 18 lots closed through the MLS.
The overall inventory of available MLS lots has now dropped to 446, whereas last year, at this time, it was 592. This does not include the 5,495 lots that the POA owns. There are also another 6,286 lots in the Delinquent/Unproductive category, up 21 from last month.
Information provided comes directly from the MLS (Cooperative Arkansas Realtors MLS – CARMLS) and contains only information from within the Village boundaries. Other sources may be providing their statistics based on zip code and most of them also contain lot and townhome information, which this report breaks out as their own categories. It is also worth noting that these numbers are provided several days after the month has closed, which may result in differences down the road due to data not having been updated timely by the real estate community. This report is effective with data available 9/3/2023.
Arkansas Real Estate Market*
- With a reported decline in the housing market nationwide, Arkansas is managing to stay slightly ahead of the national rate of falling prices.
- According to Redfin, Hot Springs Village ranks #3 as a location that has seen the biggest increase in home sales prices in the past year.
- Arkansas Median Sales Price – $251,700 vs. $310,000 in Hot Springs Village.
National Real Estate Market*
- “Experts” claim that 2023 is not 2021 and that the “crazy period” is over.
- Housing market activity remains weak overall, led mostly by elevated interest rates, combined with high home prices and low inventories.
- Nationwide, U.S. home prices and mortgage rates continue rising faster than incomes, creating an affordability issue.
- Interest rates went up as high as the 7.23% mark to a still high of 7.18%.
- In general, the price of a new build vs. an existing home is only about a $5,000 difference in price, resulting in a healthier new build market.
- Foreclosures are up 13% year-over-year, and some concerns have been expressed this trend may continue, given the state of the economy.
- National Median Sales Price – $416,100 in Q2 of 2023 vs. current HSV of $310,000.
*Data on an AR and National basis tend to lag by one month, whereas data regarding HSV is available through the end of the current month.
Feel free to reach out to me at lloydhsv@gmail.com if I can answer any questions for you. For disclosure purposes, I am a Realtor® and the numbers reported here come directly from the MLS.
By Lloyd Sherman, Associate Broker, Trademark HSV Real Estate
Click here to read Lloyd’s July 31 report.
Lloyd Sherman
Author & Real Estate Agent
Email: lloydhsv@gmail.com
