July was a pretty stable month for the residential real estate market in NWA. There was only one statistic that saw a double-digit percentage change: active listings 12-month change. All other metrics only had marginal changes for both 1-month and 12-month changes.
The 17.9% increase in the 12-month change in active listings viewed on its own could be signal of a slowing market, but when viewed in the context of all the other statistics, it does not appear to be a red flag. Here are the stats that yield that conclusion:
all but one of the pricing statistics (median sales price, average sales price per square foot, and ratio of sales price to original list price) had less than a 2% change. months of inventory held steady for the 3rd consecutive month. expired listings increased only 6.3% which is on par with a typical July. July had the second highest month ever for median sales price (June 2025, $392,500).this was the first time Benton and Washington counties had back-to-back months of total sales over a half-billion dollars. In fact, these are the only 2 months ever to see total sales over $500M in NWA.In a slowing market, sellers would have to make larger concessions to find a buyer. If sellers are struggling to find a buyer, months of inventory would be increasing. Expired listings would be significantly increasing due to sellers leaving the marketplace because they can’t find a buyer. Additionally, we would not be at almost record-highs in median sales price or total sales dollars with a market slow down. This is why, with context, active listings increasing more than 17% from last year isn’t as concerning as it might seem at first glance. It just means there is more activity in the NWA residential market than last year. It’s still a good time to be a buyer or seller in NWA!