By Lloyd Sherman, Associate Broker, Trademark HSV Real Estate

This report covers the current activities against the same timeframe last year. In this case, April of 2022 vs April of 2023. It also reflects the annual results for 2022, 2021, 2020 & 2019. I also break down sales for single-family properties by county and provide some additional granular data based on the current 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 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 on 5/4/2023.

Single Family properties sold in April 2023

  • 33 closed in April – 157 for YTD 2023
  •  Available for sale = 73 (As of May 1, 2023)
  •  Average selling price – $371,990
  •  Median selling price – $320,000
  •  Average selling price per square foot – $162.85
  •  Average days on market – 28
  •  Under Contract – 43
  •  Taking Backup Offers – 19

In April 2023 13 homes were closed in Saline County at an average selling price of $465,100 or $186.36 per square foot (psf). 20 were closed in Garland County at an average selling price of $311,470 or avg psf of $147.57.

Seven (7) of the homes closed in April 2023 were new builds. The average selling price of these eight homes was $474,329 or $210.64 per square foot. April’s results for new builds are somewhat skewed due to the custom built at $950,000 or $339.77 PSF.

Sixteen new builds remain in the current inventory of homes available for sale. This represents 22% of the total inventory available.

Single Family properties sold in April 2022

  • 49 closed – 195 for YTD 2022
  •  Average selling price – $360,057
  •  Median selling price – $289,700
  •  Average price per square foot – $155.06
  •  Average days on the market 13

State of the 2023 Market

1) We are now into the spring selling season, but thus far, it has failed to materialize and may continue to be slow.

2) High mortgage rates and home prices continue to put off many prospective homebuyers as fears of ongoing inflation, bank sector volatility, weakening economic growth, and an impending recession hang over our heads.

3) 48.5% of the closed home sales in April 2023 were cash transactions.

4) On a YTD basis, the number of closed townhomes and single-family properties is running 46 units behind the same timeframe of 2022, or 24.7%.

5) On a national basis, “experts” are predicting a slow year for house sales and their projections are that by early 2024 there will be a 10% erosion of house values from where they were at the end of 2022. While HSV may follow the same path as the national trend, it should be noted that we have a unique market that should to continue to attract those who want to escape high taxes and crime.

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

Townhome sales for YTD ’23 are 31. In 2022 there were 37 units sold on a YTD basis. Much like the single-family market, the price per square foot remains high, but the market has softened, making pricing an even more difficult task.

Lot Sales

Lot sales for the month of April, 2023 were 16. On a YTD basis, 60 lots have been closed which compares to 84 sold last year during this same period.

The overall inventory of available MLS lots is 592. This does not include the 5,516 lots that are owned by the POA. There are also another 6433 that are in the Delinquent/Unproductive category. It should be noted that both lots owned by the POA as well as unproductive lots are both on the rise. This may be another indication of the state of the economy.

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 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 being updated by the Realtor community.

DISCLAIMER: Many continue to ask how long this market will continue. Given the current national climate, I don’t see much of a change in our current market for at least the remainder of 2023. These statements represent only the opinions of the writer and the questions I have about the current market conditions and how much further buyers will go before the price becomes a limiting decision. The fact that many are fleeing high-density areas and relocating to places like the Village should be a favorable sign for us, but like most things these days, time will tell.

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.

Lloyd Sherman

Author & Real Estate Agent
Email: lloydhsv@gmail.com