Arkansas housing market still soft

The Arkansas Realtors Association released its August report of county-by-county home sales. Year-to-date home sales have dropped 16. 29 percent below the same time period last year, a report shows.

Benton County sold 385 homes in August, a drop of 26. 39 percent from August 2006. Average prices in August sat at $ 210, 347, a 7. 92 percent increase above last August’s levels. Year-to-date average prices sat at $ 201, 237, a 6. 29 percent increase above the same time period last year.

Fort Smith Arkansas housing market stable

In Sebastian County, the market has managed to stay stable, even with a little drop during the first quarter of the year. The county’s average home prices, number of units sold and values of homes sold all had less than 2 percent of a decline. And real estate agents will take it, said Ken Efurd, vice president of sales for Ron Calhoun and Associates.

While accounting for only 5 percent of total state employment, the constuction sector for Arkansas experienced strong growth. The sector posted a strong 6.1 percent rate of growth in the fourth quarter of 2005 compared to a year ago.