ARKANSAS, USA — The 2023 State of the Northwest Arkansas Region report was released on Wednesday, showing that while the region's population and employment rates are up, housing costs are rising too. The average price of single-family homes grew 55.3% since 2019, according to the report.
“The challenge that we're facing is affordable housing. As we're migrating numbers of close to 500,000 new residents," said Bryan Cork, Executive Director for Healthcare Transformation at the NWA Council.
Even with some people seeing their salaries grow, experts say that doesn't solve the problem, because it doesn't keep up with soaring housing costs and lack of housing availability.
“We need to ensure that what we're doing today is going to track well with our population growth so that we don't outgrow the services that we have in Northwest Arkansas," said Cork.
Vacancy rates are low in Northwest Arkansas according to reports. Cork said along with housing, there is a growing need for healthcare.
Cork says that it's important to “continue to grow our health care service lines, expanding what level of services that we offer in the region, and ensuring that we offer best in class and world-class care for the residents in Northwest Arkansas."
“All of our healthcare systems [need to be] aligned and working together to provide the best patient care possible to the residents of the region so that he, she, or they don't have to leave the region to receive world-class care,” said Cork.
The council partners with the University of Arkansas to release this report annually. It compares the region to 6 other successful cities.
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