A National Association of Realtors® (NAR) report detailing median homes prices from metropolitan areas around the nation reveals that houses can still be had for a bargain in Arkansas.

The latest quarterly survey of homes prices covers the third quarter and states the national median price for a house was $220,800 at the end of the third quarter – down 2 percent from $225,300 at the end of the same quarter last year.

Meanwhile, in the Little Rock-North Little Rock metropolitan statistical area, the median price for a home at the end of the third quarter was $131,600, up 2.1 percent from $125,900 at the end of the same quarter in 2006.

Of course, numbers from the Little Rock area don’t exactly reveal what’s happening in every market in Arkansas. However, the Little Rock market is fairly representative of the state and it is the only metro area completely within Arkansas the NAR reports on in its quarterly surveys.

So, we can learn a couple of things about the state by comparing the Little Rock area to the national housing market.

One thing worth pointing out is that the median home price in the Little Rock area of $131,600 is considerably less than the national median price. The average home in the area, then, costs about $89,200 less that the national median price of $220,000.

In that regard, there are some bargains available in Arkansas. The folks at the NAR have often pointed out that homes in Arkansas are undervalued and it’s easy to see what they mean when comparing median prices.

Not only are homes in Arkansas generally undervalued, but they tend to appreciate in value. While it’s true that a gain of 2.1 percent in value isn’t huge, it does represent a gain of $5,700 – that’s not too shabby when one considers that the trend around the nation suggests homes are losing value in a lot of markets.

The report from the NAR isn’t a surprise to people who sell real estate in Arkansas. The typical Arkansas market grows slowly and steadily and that’s been true for as long as anyone can remember.

Also, Realtors® will tell you that the low housing prices in Arkansas attract a lot of people from other states. For years, people have found it advantageous to sell a home for, say, $500,000 then move to Arkansas and buy a similar one for half that price and pocket the difference.

When one considers the low home prices in Arkansas and the fact that values tend to appreciate, it’s easy to make the case that we’ve got a pretty solid market in the state. Are housing markets throughout the state growing like they did last year? No, but we are seeing markets in Arkansas return to normal patterns after about seven years of atypical growth, and the average Arkansas market tends to be one marked by slow, steady growth.

This year has been a bit shaky, to say the least, but at least homes still tend to appreciate in value and the person who buys a home in Arkansas today will probably earn a profit when that house is sold a few years from now.