Bentonville, AR is growing rapidly, which has fueled a hot real estate market

Bentonville, Arkansas, has experienced major growth in recent years.

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the city's population stood at 59,471 in 2023, representing a 2.7% increase from the previous year and a 9.8% increase from 2020.

Bentonville is located in northwest Arkansas, a fast-growing region where companies such as Walmart, JB Hunt and Tyson Foods are headquartered.

A forecast by the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission could call more than 1 million Northwest Arkansas home by 2050.

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Bentonville's real estate market has become a hot spot as the city continues to grow.

“We're the home of Walmart, and we're the home of JB Hunt and Tyson, and Walmart has spent a lot of energy making it a very employable place,” agency Bentonville managing partner Kala House told Fox Business. “Our market is growing very strongly, especially starting post-Covid because a lot of people wanted to get out of the city where they could be outside and things like that. We've been, in the last couple of years, we've been into the mountains. USA Biking in Bella Vista capital and so that makes it highly employable for Walmart, who are also bringing their workers back.”

The real estate market around Bentonville is seeing an 8.5% increase in home sales in the first half of 2024 compared to a year ago, said Caitlin Munch, an agent at the agency Bentonville.

Benton County, where Bentonville is located, and two nearby counties sold 4,799 homes in the first six months of the year, according to the University of Arkansas' latest Skyline Report published online by Arvest Bank and NWAHomepage.

This figure represented a 2.7% increase from the latter half of 2023, the report found.

Munch also noted that 39.5% of all homes sold are new construction.

“We're at a record low inventory rate. There's a lot of people who are holding on to two-point interest rates because of Covid, and so we've got a lot of people who are holding on to their homes that they don't want to sell because they have such great rates, And then prices have gone up so much since then,” House said. “So we have a lot of new construction inventory right now. I think the average was, if we closed 29 new homes a day, we wouldn't have enough homes, because we have an average of 37 people-per-day population growth.”

Bentonville has a “little bit more” of a buyer's market right now, he said, citing interest rates, the upcoming election and other factors.

Agency Bentonville experts credit Walmart and other companies with helping Bentonville grow.

The original Walton's 5 and 10 opened in May 1950 in Bentonville, Arkansas. The building is now a visitor center and museum. (Katieh Myers/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) (Katieh Myers/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Walmart has been located in Bentonville for nearly six decades. Munch pointed to the retailer's new “home office” campus opening next year as something that could bring more people to the region, on top of the company's current hiring efforts.

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“As Walmart continues to hire and all these companies here continue to hire people to live in Northwest Arkansas, we're just going to keep growing and see more businesses move into the area,” including more restaurants.

Walmart urging remote workers to move to Bentonville has brought more people to Bentonville and the surrounding area, House said. They may also visit Hoboken, New Jersey or Southern California, Fox Business reported.

According to the agency Bentonville Realtors, many of the major companies that do business with Walmart have a presence in the area, which has also contributed to the influx of people to Bentonville.

When it comes to Bentonville's real estate market, Agency Bentonville expects it to continue to grow, along with home prices per square foot.

The surrounding areas are also starting to grow “rapidly” as residents are priced out of Bentonville and look for cheaper housing options, Munch noted.

Homes in Benton County sold for an average of about $430,000 in the first six months of this year According to the Skyline report, this represents a slight year-over-year increase and a 72.5% jump over five years.

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Bentonville recently praised Blackstone COO John Gray as a “place to add to the bucket list” in a video posted on LinkedIn earlier in the week.

“It's a place to add to the bucket list,” Gray said while jogging in the area. “A great race. They have amazing bike trails, museums, incredible food. The Walton family has done an incredible job. It's obviously the home of Walmart, an incredible company that serves customers all over the world, provides value, created a lot of jobs and is a Fun place, I'm definitely coming back here.”