Even with higher interest rates, more than 5,300 homes sold in Northwest Arkansas during the second half of 2024.

The big picture: The total marks a 14% jump from a year earlier, making it the third-highest half-year number recorded in 20 years by the biannual residential Arvest Skyline Report released Tuesday.

Why it matters: Housing prices and rents in part determine who can afford to live in NWA and the wages they need to maintain their quality of life.

• Lower- and middle-range wage earners in the area have found it increasingly difficult to buy or rent living space.

Zoom out: Nationwide, a shortage of "affordable" homes means buyers compete for the cheapest ones, pushing up prices, Axios' Emily Peck writes.

By the numbers: The average selling price for a single-family home during the second half of 2024 in Benton County was $449,750, up 7% from a year earlier. It was $402,322 in Washington County, up 4%.

• Those prices are up more than 120% from a decade earlier.
• Newly built homes made up nearly 40% of sales for the second half of the year — 2,058 homes — a record in Skyline's data.

Multifamily vacancies in NWA were at 3.3%. Skyline authors say this was driven by 506 new multifamily units added during the six-month period, with a total of 1,533 new units added during calendar year 2024.

What they're saying: Homeowners are opting to stay in their homes to avoid mortgage interest rate increases, which leads to fewer homes being for sale, Mervin Jebaraj, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, said in a news release. Arvest Bank contracts with CBER to produce the Skyline Report.

• "However, strong population growth is fueling new homes being built, and this is driving growth in overall sales," he said.

Read the full story

Seconds into his opening statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday, protestors screamed over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

State of play: Huckabee was nominated by President Trump to be ambassador to Israel.

• He was interrupted three times. One could be heard yelling: "Huckabee misuses Christianity to justify ethnic cleansing … Free Palestine!"

The big picture: Huckabee in the past supported Israel's right to annex the West Bank and incorporate the Palestinian population into its nation.

Yes, but: In the hearing, Huckabee made a point to say he would carry out the president's priorities, not his own.

• "One of the things that I will recognize is an ambassador doesn't create the policy, he carries the policy of his country and his president," he said.

Go deeper: Watch the full testimony.

🔌 Some Bella Vista city offices will close at noon on Friday due a planned power outage related to construction. Fire and EMS services won't be interrupted. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

🏢 A plan for a student-oriented housing project on Dickson Street was tabled indefinitely by Fayetteville's Planning Commission Monday but will appear on the panel's agenda again next month. (Fayetteville Flyer)

🚧 Improvements to Highway 112 from Bentonville to Fayetteville are in limbo as a $25 million federal grant is reviewed again by President Trump's administration. (The Bentonville Bulletin)

Jonathan de la Fuente's "aha moment" was on a family snowboarding trip.

"We went to dinner afterwards, and everybody was talking about how much of a great day they had," he told me. "And I realized … there was no proof that I was even on this trip with them, because I was behind the camera."

📷 The big picture: He founded Hightag with brother Alex de la Fuente so he could get in front of the camera.

🔧 How it works: On trails where the company has agreements, cameras are installed to strategically snap the best action.

• A subscription service, available with day pass ($7) or annual membership ($70), gives users a radio frequency identification tag to wear or attach to their equipment.
• This triggers cameras as the rider/skier/runner approaches, and users can then access photos and videos from a mobile app.

What they're saying: "I have massively enjoyed using Hightag to document [my mountain bike] progression," Cass Crews with Heartland Forward told me.

Pro athletes who train others use Hightag as a coaching tool, Alex de la Fuente said. And they see themselves as content creators as well as athletes, so the system gives them great images to use, he added.

Between the lines: The pair relocated to Bentonville about two years ago to foster the company using the area's cycling infrastructure as a test case.

• Hightag raised $200,000 from an accelerator program, friends and family in early 2023, Alex de la Fuente told me.
• They're in the middle of a "rolling close" on another $500,000, which includes an investment from Washington state-based REI Co-op.

What's next: Since it was the genesis for the idea, skiing seems to be the next logical fit. They recently spent a week in Park City, Utah, working on a test with a ski resort.

• "The number one question we get — especially from investors — is: could this work for golf?" Alex de la Fuente said.

🚵‍♀️ The Shift is a regular feature to catch up quick on what's happening in Arkansas' economy and entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Share this