WealthWithMortgage.com » Des Moines Iowa Real Estate Market Watch (Weekly)

It’s Still Very Much a Buyers Market Here in Des Moines

Tyler Osby — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:07:08 +0000

What’s The Des Moines Real Estate Market Doing?

Do you ever wonder how our real estate market is here in Des Moines? Thinking about buying a house in Des Moines? Unfortunately, we spend a lot of time listening to how rough things are in other cities around the country, but too often we don’t really consider what our real estate climate is like.

I’m a fan of having as much information available before I take action on any big decisions. I don’t know about you, but I think buying or selling a home is a pretty big deal.

As a blogger and mortgage professional, when I receive good information – I pass it on. Home listings and sales are an interesting set of information most of us don’t have super easy access to. Thankfully, I have a Realtor that hammers me with e-mails (Just kidding, I don’t mind them) on market updates and her opinion on where things are at.

Do YOU Need Help?

As a mortgage professional, I cannot sell real estate. I can however help you connect with a Realtor. If you are looking for some answers, I’d be happy to introduce you to someone who can help! No question is silly or too off the wall.

I can also reach out to my connections throughout the country if you’re looking for real estate outside of Iowa. So please, feel free to contact us, we’d love to help!

Why Should You Care About Statistics?

Whether you’re looking to purchase, sell or refinance a home – this stuff matters. These statistics are compiled from the Multiple Listing Service and cover the Des Moines, Iowa residential real estate market.

With her permission, I post the facts here so you can come up with your very own market opinion. Here’s this week’s market commentary:

“Since the end of the tax credit, real estate has slowed down some (to be expected after the end of an incentive). For buyers though rates are low and there is plenty of inventory out there and best of all, most of it is priced right and will continue to be priced competitively.

Does this mean that this is a horrible time to sell your house? No. I’ve seen traffic on listings pick up significantly in the past few weeks. Like we discussed 2 weeks ago though it is very important for sellers to price their homes right and have them show very well. Average days on market is still around 90 and having a home that is staged and priced right can help you to sell your home much faster than your competition.

Currently in the Des Moines Metro there is about 10 months of inventory on the market (meaning if there were no new listings put on the market, it would take about 10 months to sell the inventory we currently have. 6 months of inventory is a balanced market, anything more a buyers market, anything less a sellers market”.

Heather Barglof, RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts

What Does This Report Cover?

I really enjoy this chart because it gives a breakdown of:

Days on the Market
Price Per Square Foot
Number of New Listings
Number of Expired Listings
Number of Price Reductions
Pending Home Sales (by price)
New Home Sales (by price)
All Active Home Sales (by price)
Best of all, it compares this week vs. last week and last year!

This is a great chart. I’m not a Realtor and would never try to take the place of one. If you’re looking for statistics in your specific neighborhood (because your neighborhood is the only one that matters when you’re selling), I can help connect you with the right Realtor for the job!

We Love Great Information and Love to Give Great Information!

If you’re a super cool person and have any market statistics you think our readers would find valuable, please feel free to contact me. If it’s relevant, It’ll show up here!

If you’re looking for my professional opinion or looking for a comment (press related), please contact me here .

Des Moines Sales Are Down. Big Time.

Tyler Osby — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:58:55 +0000

What’s The Real Estate Market Doing?

Do you ever wonder how our real estate market is here in Des Moines? Unfortunately, we spend a lot of time listening to how rough things are in other cities around the country, but too often we don’t really consider what our real estate climate is like.

I’m a fan of having as much information available before I take action on any big decisions. I don’t know about you, but I think buying or selling a home is a pretty big deal.

Do YOU Need Help?

I can also reach out to my connections throughout the country if you’re looking for real estate outside of Iowa. So please, feel free to contact us, we’d love to help!

Why Should I Care About Statistics?

Whether you’re looking to purchase, sell or refinance a home – this stuff matters. These statistics are compiled from the Multiple Listing Service and cover the Des Moines, Iowa residential real estate market.

What Does This Report Cover?

I really enjoy this chart because it gives a breakdown of:

Days on the Market
Price Per Square Foot
Number of New Listings
Number of Expired Listings
Number of Price Reductions
Pending Home Sales (by price)
New Home Sales (by price)
All Active Home Sales (by price)
Best of all, it compares this week vs. last week and last year!

We Love Great Information and Love to Give Great Information!

If you’re a super cool person and have any market statistics you think our readers would find valuable, please feel free to contact me. If it’s relevant, It’ll show up here!

If you’re looking for my professional opinion or looking for a comment (press related), please contact me here .

The Tax Credit has Expired but Rates are Low and It’s Still a Great Time to Buy

Tyler Osby — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 02:55:55 +0000

What’s The Real Estate Market Doing?

I’m a fan of having as much information available before I take action on any big decisions. I don’t know about you, but I think buying or selling a home is a pretty big deal.

Do YOU Need Help?

I can also reach out to my connections throughout the country if you’re looking for real estate outside of Iowa. So please, feel free to contact us, we’d love to help!

What Does This Report Cover?

I really enjoy this chart because it gives a breakdown of:

Days on the Market
Price Per Square Foot
Number of New Listings
Number of Expired Listings
Number of Price Reductions
Pending Home Sales (by price)
New Home Sales (by price)
All Active Home Sales (by price)
Best of all, it compares this week vs. last week and last year!

We Love Great Information and Love to Give Great Information!

If you’re a super cool person and have any market statistics you think our readers would find valuable, please feel free to contact me. If it’s relevant, It’ll show up here!

If you’re looking for my professional opinion or looking for a comment (press related), please contact me here .

Listings in Des Moines Should Increase with the Temperature

Tyler Osby — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:26:44 +0000

What’s The Real Estate Market Doing?

I’m a fan of having as much information available before I take action on any big decisions. I don’t know about you, but I think buying or selling a home is a pretty big deal.

Do YOU Need Help?

I can also reach out to my connections throughout the country if you’re looking for real estate outside of Iowa. So please, feel free to contact us, we’d love to help!

Why Should You Care About Statistics?

With her permission, I post the facts here so you can come up with your very own market opinion. Here’s this week’s market commentary:

“I’m not surprised that home sales are down because just like you and I, people’s behavior changes when the temperature is below zero. Not so technical analysis like this can help you understand why home sales were down this past week.

It’s also important to recognize that people are still listing their homes for sale. In my opinion, this will continue to happen as the weather warms up.

What this means for buyers is that homes are going to remain well priced because there’s a lot of competition out there for sellers. Between the tax credit (both the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit and the $6,500 move up buyer tax credit) and competitive home prices, this is an extremely good time to be purchasing real estate. Oh, and I should also add record low interest rates making the payments lower then they probably ever will be!”

-Heather Barglof, RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts

What Does This Report Cover?

I really enjoy this chart because it gives a breakdown of:

Days on the Market
Price Per Square Foot
Number of New Listings
Number of Expired Listings
Number of Price Reductions
Pending Home Sales (by price)
New Home Sales (by price)
All Active Home Sales (by price)
Best of all, it compares this week vs. last week and last year!

We Love Great Information and Love to Give Great Information!

If you’re a super cool person and have any market statistics you think our readers would find valuable, please feel free to contact me. If it’s relevant, It’ll show up here!

If you’re looking for my professional opinion or looking for a comment (press related), please contact me here .

Iowa MLS Market Stats & Conditions-December Update

Tyler Osby — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:46:35 +0000

What’s The Real Estate Market Doing?

I’m a fan of having as much information available before I take action on any big decisions. I don’t know about you, but I think buying or selling a home is a pretty big deal.

As a blogger and mortgage professional, when I receive good information – I pass it on. Home listings and sales are an interesting set of information most of us don’t have super easy access to.

Do YOU Need Help?

I can also reach out to my connections throughout the country if you’re looking for real estate outside of Iowa. So please, feel free to contact us, we’d love to help!

Why Should You Care About Statistics?

With his permission, I post the facts here so you can come up with your very own market opinion. Here’s this month’s market commentary compliments of Mr. Les Sulgrove of Iowa Real Estate Solutions:

“As anticipated, December Pendings continued the free fall that began last October. This month showed a daily average of 910 pending transactions. Expectations are that January business will pick back up as long as weather doesn’t become a factor and that 2010 will start out stronger than the way 2009 did.

2009 Monthly Average Pending Transactions

2009 Pending Sales Chart

The year 2009 ended with 850 Pending residential transactions on the books. Compare that to January 1st, 2009 when we started off with 675. As we move into 2010, I will be showing Pendings as they overlay on the 2009 chart. This way we will have a good idea how we compared to last year as well as have a strong visual of the trend of business throughout the year. Don’t forget, I produce a mid-month report on the 15th that focuses on Sold transactions.

December Home Inventory Stats By Price Range

December can be a tricky month to predict. Depending on weather, it can be boom or bust. I’m encouraged by the amount of activity that we saw this month considering that we received over 2 feet of snow from two major snowstorms. The number of listings on the market declined in December ending the year barely above the 5,000 mark.

What Areas Were Hot in December

Ankeny led the way in December with 23.3% of its residential listing inventory (85 homes) going pending. Runners up communities were the southwest part of Des Moines at 22.2% of inventory pended followed by Johnston at 21.8%.

In the condo/townhome front, Indianola led the area selling 5 of 14 listings (35.7%) followed by a tie for second from Norwalk and Des Moines Northwest selling 27.3% of its inventory in December. The city of West Des Moines led with highest actual number of pending sales at 27 for December with a pool of 195 to choose from.”

Take Advantage Des Moines, Put Your House on the Market Early

Tyler Osby — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:28:29 +0000

What’s The Real Estate Market Doing?

I’m a fan of having as much information available before I take action on any big decisions. I don’t know about you, but I think buying or selling a home is a pretty big deal.

Do YOU Need Help?

I can also reach out to my connections throughout the country if you’re looking for real estate outside of Iowa. So please, feel free to contact us, we’d love to help!

Why Should You Care About Statistics?

With her permission, I post the facts here so you can come up with your very own market opinion. Here’s this week’s market commentary:

“Christmas has come and gone yet again and we are quickly approaching the end of 2009. Naturally, things in real estate slow down during the holidays as people focus their priorities elsewhere, but don’t expect that to continue to long into January. People are officially under a time crunch to get their house sold and identify a new property to buy if they want to take advantage of the $6,500 tax credit. I highly urge anyone thinking about selling and moving up to get their house on the market right away after the first of the year. With an average days on market for homes of 90-100 days it will be important to act early in order to take advantage of the $6,500. If you put your home on the market on January 15th, it could potentially take until April 15th to sell (for tips to sell your home faster than this, shoot me an email or give me a call). After April 30th, I would not expect this credit to get extended again (remember you have til June 30th to close, but your offer must be accepted before April 30th).”

Heather Barglof, RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts

What Does This Report Cover?

I really enjoy this chart because it gives a breakdown of:

Days on the Market
Price Per Square Foot
Number of New Listings
Number of Expired Listings
Number of Price Reductions
Pending Home Sales (by price)
New Home Sales (by price)
All Active Home Sales (by price)
Best of all, it compares this week vs. last week and last year!

We Love Great Information and Love to Give Great Information!

If you’re a super cool person and have any market statistics you think our readers would find valuable, please feel free to contact me. If it’s relevant, It’ll show up here!

If you’re looking for my professional opinion or looking for a comment (press related), please contact me here .

Home Sales in Des Moines Have Surpassed 2008’s Numbers

Tyler Osby — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:20:51 +0000

What’s The Real Estate Market Doing?

I’m a fan of having as much information available before I take action on any big decisions. I don’t know about you, but I think buying or selling a home is a pretty big deal.

Do YOU Need Help?

I can also reach out to my connections throughout the country if you’re looking for real estate outside of Iowa. So please, feel free to contact us, we’d love to help!

Why Should You Care About Statistics?

With her permission, I post the facts here so you can come up with your very own market opinion. Here’s this week’s market commentary:

“Well we survived the worst snowfall in how many years, but as you can see by our sale pending market the real estate market here in Des Moines was a little slow last week. With some extra time on my hands I started looking into the overall performance of the real estate market in 2009 over previous years. Since 2006 our sales numbers here in Des Moines have fallen each year. 2009 will be the first year that we have seen an increase over the previous year. So far in 2009 we have sold 8130 homes which is just a tad bit better than the 8111 home that were sold in 2008. Currently we have an additional 897 homes under contract some of which will close yet in 2009. Granted this increase isn’t huge over last year, but it is an increase and I will take that!

Another element of the real estate market that I found very interesting this year was foreclosures. We hear about them everyday on the news, but just how many foreclosures have sold here in Iowa? In 2009 so far there have been 1088 sales which is about 13% of the sales in 2009. In 2008 there were just 747 foreclosure homes sold. These numbers don’t even take into consideration short sales which probably account for a few hundred more sales each year. My prediction for 2010 is that this foreclosure number will continue to increase because banks still have alot of shadow inventory (foreclosures that banks have but are holding off the market) and slowly this inventory will become active inventory.”

-Heather Barglof, RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts

What Does This Report Cover?

I really enjoy this chart because it gives a breakdown of:

Days on the Market
Price Per Square Foot
Number of New Listings
Number of Expired Listings
Number of Price Reductions
Pending Home Sales (by price)
New Home Sales (by price)
All Active Home Sales (by price)
Best of all, it compares this week vs. last week and last year!

We Love Great Information and Love to Give Great Information!

If you’re a super cool person and have any market statistics you think our readers would find valuable, please feel free to contact me. If it’s relevant, It’ll show up here!

If you’re looking for my professional opinion or looking for a comment (press related), please contact me here .

Real Estate Predictions for Des Moines in 2010

Tyler Osby — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:01:22 +0000

What’s The Real Estate Market Doing?

I’m a fan of having as much information available before I take action on any big decisions. I don’t know about you, but I think buying or selling a home is a pretty big deal.

Do YOU Need Help?

I can also reach out to my connections throughout the country if you’re looking for real estate outside of Iowa. So please, feel free to contact us, we’d love to help!

Why Should You Care About Statistics?

With her permission, I post the facts here so you can come up with your very own market opinion. Here’s this week’s market commentary:

“So we have the tax credit extended and we have low interest rates, what does this mean for 2010 and the real estate market? Recently I was reading an article that shed some light onto what forecasters believe will happen in 2010 (remember these are predictions, and real estate is local).

1. The residential housing market will dip again in mid 2010 before settling into a recovery in the back half of the year. This one makes alot of sense to me. We have the extension of the tax credit that goes through the end of April (must close by the end of June). The timing of the end of the tax credit most likely create a slowdown in a time that would typically be the peak of the season.

2. No more historic lows on the 30 year fixed. Rates are low right now and no one really knows how long they will stay where they are at. I think it is the opinion though of most real estate and mortgage professionals though that rates are headed back up and if you are waiting around for the perfect deal it is important to note that your rate could be quite a bit higher down the road. An interesting point I learned this week is that for each point in an interest rate increase it is equivalent to a 10% increase in price. For example, lets say that you purchase a home today for $200,000 at 5% interest rate, to achieve the same payment at 6% interest rate you could only purchase a $180,000 home so it goes to show you that the cost of money is a big factor into the amount of home you can afford.

3. Foreclosure inventory will increase
Many banks still have homes that they have taken back that have not hit the market yet. As these homes enter the active inventory, it is my professional opinion that it will have a large effect on the housing market ultimately driving prices down.”

-Heather Barglof, RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts

What Does This Report Cover?

I really enjoy this chart because it gives a breakdown of:

Days on the Market
Price Per Square Foot
Number of New Listings
Number of Expired Listings
Number of Price Reductions
Pending Home Sales (by price)
New Home Sales (by price)
All Active Home Sales (by price)
Best of all, it compares this week vs. last week and last year!

We Love Great Information and Love to Give Great Information!

If you’re a super cool person and have any market statistics you think our readers would find valuable, please feel free to contact me. If it’s relevant, It’ll show up here!

If you’re looking for my professional opinion or looking for a comment (press related), please contact me here .

Des Moines Shows Largest Jump in Sales Over Last Year

Tyler Osby — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:52:01 +0000

What’s The Real Estate Market Doing?

I’m a fan of having as much information available before I take action on any big decisions. I don’t know about you, but I think buying or selling a home is a pretty big deal.

Do YOU Need Help?

I can also reach out to my connections throughout the country if you’re looking for real estate outside of Iowa. So please, feel free to contact us, we’d love to help!

Why Should You Care About Statistics?

With her permission, I post the facts here so you can come up with your very own market opinion. Here’s this week’s market commentary:

“Des Moines has made it in the news again!! A report released by the National Association of Realtors showed that home sales rose by 21% nationally and by 26% in the Midwest. Best part of the report was that the biggest sales gain in the midwest was right here in Des Moines with a 39% increase in sales over last year.

Currently here in Des Moines things to have slowed down moderately due to the time of year, but with the tax credit extension I believe business will pick up earlier in the year than it normally would. The National Association of Realtors believes that we will have 2.3 to 2.4 million first time home buyers purchase homes this year.”

-Heather Barglof, RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts

What Does This Report Cover?

I really enjoy this chart because it gives a breakdown of:

Days on the Market
Price Per Square Foot
Number of New Listings
Number of Expired Listings
Number of Price Reductions
Pending Home Sales (by price)
New Home Sales (by price)
All Active Home Sales (by price)
Best of all, it compares this week vs. last week and last year!

We Love Great Information and Love to Give Great Information!

If you’re a super cool person and have any market statistics you think our readers would find valuable, please feel free to contact me. If it’s relevant, It’ll show up here!

If you’re looking for my professional opinion or looking for a comment (press related), please contact me here .

How Will Des Moines React to the Extended Tax Credit & Move Up Credit?

Tyler Osby — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:20:24 +0000

What’s The Real Estate Market Doing?

I’m a fan of having as much information available before I take action on any big decisions. I don’t know about you, but I think buying or selling a home is a pretty big deal.

Do YOU Need Help?

I can also reach out to my connections throughout the country if you’re looking for real estate outside of Iowa. So please, feel free to contact us, we’d love to help!

Why Should You Care About Statistics?

With her permission, I post the facts here so you can come up with your very own market opinion. Here’s this week’s market commentary:

“We’ve had an interesting few weeks discussing the extension of the home buyer tax credit, will it pass, won’t it pass etc. With the news here that the tax credit is here to stay for the next 6 months and now move up buyers are included, leads me to question what will be the result of this credit here in Des Moines? Naturally we are going to see increased sales especially in the months that we typically don’t see a ton of activity (December, January), however I don’t think people are going to be running out to buy a home in those months unless they really need to. There are a lot of distractions this time of year with the holidays and for many, April 30th seems like along ways away. What I think we will see (and what I highly recommend to sellers) is an increase in listings here in the next few months. The group that qualifies for the “move up buyer” credit will most likely have a house to sell, they are probably a little more in tune to the market so they are getting their house ready for to be put on the market. I think we will really see the buyers getting out there in force after January 1st.

So what is going to happen to sale prices? Tough to predict, but a report that I read yesterday had the Chief Economist for the national association of Realtors indicating that not only would home sales increase, but sale prices would increase as well. Its not all positive news when it comes to an increase in sales prices though as many economists believe those increases are just temporary inflation’s and we are only postponing that pain that we will be seen later on in the year. Here is Des Moines we haven’t seen huge price increases, in fact in October of 2009 the average sale price was $156,813 down about 4%. In reality to remains to be see the exact effects of this credit, but if I can offer any words of advice they are this. If you are thinking about selling your house in order for you to take advantage of this tax credit, get your house on the market now. Price it right, use a home stager and a photographer and make sur e it shows well. If you wait until March to get your home on the market you are going to be competing with MANY more houses. If you have any questions on what you think your home is worth, just call or email me and I can help you out!”

-Heather Barglof, RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts

What Does This Report Cover?

I really enjoy this chart because it gives a breakdown of:

Days on the Market
Price Per Square Foot
Number of New Listings
Number of Expired Listings
Number of Price Reductions
Pending Home Sales (by price)
New Home Sales (by price)
All Active Home Sales (by price)
Best of all, it compares this week vs. last week and last year!

We Love Great Information and Love to Give Great Information!

If you’re a super cool person and have any market statistics you think our readers would find valuable, please feel free to contact me. If it’s relevant, It’ll show up here!

If you’re looking for my professional opinion or looking for a comment (press related), please contact me here .