Iowa Home Sales in March Rose 6.6% and Pending Sales Jumped 9.3%

March homes sales in Iowa rose 6.6 percent according to the Housing Trends by the Iowa Association of REALTORS® (IAR). Pending home sales jumped to 9.3 percent higher than March 2019. New properties put on the market surged 18 percent from March of last year.  

2,980 homes sold in March 2020 compared to 2,796 in March of last year.  

Median sales price came in 6.3 percent higher at $170,000 compared to $160,000 in March 2019. 

Homes sold in March were on the market for an average of 73 days which is slightly faster than 75 days in March 2019. The overall available number of homes on the market increased at 5.2 percent with 13,617 properties on the market. 

“February was a busy month for real estate in Iowa and we are seeing that impact carryover into March with the number of sold properties and pending sales. As the pandemic reached a higher level in Iowa in mid-March this impacted our industry for the last half of March. It is too early to tell how this will translate into April, May and beyond. Realtors in Iowa had to quickly adapt many of their business practices to keep their clients and the public safe. They have embraced more virtual tours, video walk-throughs and modified closings to accommodate the social distancing measures. It has been great to see Realtors, lenders, bankers, appraisers, recorders and so many industry professionals to come together to help clients finish buying or selling a home. The Iowa Association of REALTORS along with our colleagues at that National Association of REALTORS, have been educating Realtors on best practices and guidelines during this pandemic. Real estate has such a major impact on the economy that we need to do our part within the new guidelines to keep Iowa moving forward, ” stated Scott Wendl, IAR 2020 President. 

“I have heard of dozens of heartwarming stories about Realtors and fellow industry professionals finding ways to give back to the community during this challenging time. For example, donations to local food banks, making masks, delivering food, sharing PPE resources, decorating windows, donating clothing and care packages just to name a few,” added Wendl.