October home sales continued the strong fall season with a 17.9 percent increase from last year. In addition, pending sales were up 16 percent in pending sales when compared to October 2019 according to the Housing Trends by the Iowa Association of REALTORS® (IAR).
4,493 homes sold in the month of October compared to only 3,810 solds in October of last year. Home sales are up 7.4 percent so far this year in comparison to the first ten months of 2019. A total of 38,391 homes have been sold this year.
Pending sales continued to outpace last year with a 16 percent increase that equals 4,161 properties. In October 2019, only 3,586 properties had a pending status.
"We had a great October with a high number of sales and a lot of properties now pending for a future sale. Homes that are priced right are selling very fast. In this fast-paced market, we encourage buyers to make sure they have their finances in order and work with a Realtor to help you through possible competing offers on each home. We encourage potential sellers to work with a Realtor to make sure your home is priced right and ready to sell. The lack of homes available is a challenge for several price ranges. Iowa along with most of the country is concerned with a low number of homes for sale," stated IAR President Jen Burkamper.
Homes sold very quickly in October with an average of 50 days on market. This eclipsed last month’s fast pace. The last time homes sold this fast was the summer of 2018.
The median sales price rose 14.8 percent with $185,000 last month compared to $161,125 in October 2019.
Total number of homes available on the market continues to be tight in many price ranges. Inventory of homes dropped 34.9 percent when compared to October of last year.
View Details of Statewide Market Report for October
View the Detailed PDF Report on Statewide Statistics
View Housing Market Reports based on an Iowa County
View Reports on Single-Family homes
View Reports on Townhouse-Condo homes.
The information used to create the IAR October Housing Trends Report was current as of November 22. 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 7,900 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
Sources: National Association of REALTORS®, Multiple Listing Services in Iowa, ShowingTime, Inc.