Another solid month for the NWA residential market!!!
Closed properties were up from November; just shy of 27M more dollars sold or 72 more closed transactions (7% gain for both metrics).
Sold residential properties have hovered around $218/SQFT for the last 6 months, a sign of stabilizing prices. Another sign of pricing stability, the median sale price has stayed around $344K for the last 3 months. In fact, this is the smallest of any 3-month change in SEVEN years (Sep to Nov 2017).
The ratio of original list price to sale price was back to 100%; which was a little bit of a surprise because typically buyers have a little more negotiating power in the winter. 2021 was the last December to have a 100% original list price to sale price ratio.
Active listings were down from last month (not surprising with the slower winter months), but this was over 350 more active listings and 180 new listings than the same time last year (9% and 23% increase, respectively). Expired listings jumped in December from November (76%), because agents often write listing agreements to run through the end of the year. This jump is not a reflection that all the sudden less buyers are out there. Also evident by the months of inventory going down from 5 to 4; meaning new buyer activity is outpacing new seller activity in the market.
From an annual stand point, 2024 was more productive than 2023. There were 736 more closed residential properties accounting for the $475M increase in total closed dollars. This is good news as we begin another real estate cycle for 2025.