The Arkansas Realtors® Association announced this morning that home sales in January were up 8.7% from a year ago.  January is typically the slowest sales month of the year, usually accounting for less than 6% of the annual total sales.  Nevertheless, it is encouraging that the new year started out with a solid increase.  Home sales in 2013 overall were up 12.7% compared to 2012, and the new data suggest that the strong growth is continuing into 2014.

Source: Arkansas Realtors® Association

Among the 10 counties with the highest sales totals, only two showed decreases compared to last year – Faulkner (-30.9%) and Washington (-8.9).  In both of those counties, however, unusually strong sales in January 2013 biased the year-over-year comparison.  If we compare sales in January 2014 to  January 2012, all 10 counties showed significant increases.

Source: Arkansas Realtors® Association