Median sale prices rise again while home sales dropped In March compared to last year at this time according to the March Housing Trends by the Iowa Association of REALTORS® (IAR). Homes continue to sell faster than last year with inventory down slightly.
The median sale price for Iowa homes sold last month was $160,000 up 6.7 percent from March of last year. 2,723 homes sold in March which was a 11.4 percent drop from 3,074 solds in March 2018.
Days on market for March was 14 days shorter than March of last year. Homes sold in March were on the market for an average of 75 days compared to 89 days last year in March.
For the first quarter, sold properties were down 6.1 percent from the first quarter of 2018, while median sale price was up 4.7 percent. A total of 6,766 homes sold in the first quarter this year. The median sale price for the first quarter came in at $157,000.
“Overall the inventory of homes is down slightly, but it really depends on the area of Iowa and the specific price ranges. Several of our larger metros have fewer homes on the market, while in many of our smaller and mid-sized towns the inventory is higher than last year. The recent announcement from the Federal Reserve to pause interest rate hikes for the rest of the year is welcome news to homebuyers and sellers. We hope that news from the Fed coupled with the improved weather that April brings will result in a more active real estate market,” stated IAR President John Goede.
The information used to create the IAR March Housing Trends Report was current as of March 17 at 12:30 pm. The information is subject to change due to the dynamic nature of the IAR’s housing statistics system, which is based on data from the local participating MLS (multiple listing service) systems.
The term Realtor® is a registered trademark, which identifies real estate professionals who follow a strict Code of Ethics as members of the National Association of REALTORS®.
The Iowa Association of Realtors® is the state’s largest real estate professional organization representing over 7,200 members and affiliates. The IAR releases a Housing Trends Report each month.
For more information, please contact Mark Gavin, Director of Communications at the Iowa Association of REALTORS® - mark@iowarealtors.com or 515-309-9345