Anticipation for the new year has spurred a bit of end-of-year activity for the Iowa housing market. Glimmers of market improvement have begun to shine in the last two months of 2023, with signs pointing to a strong first quarter of the new year.
“While the Iowa housing market stayed stable through the month of November, continuing the trend of lower inventory we’ve seen for most of the year, we’re seeing signs that the new year will start strong,” Krista Clark, president of the Iowa Association of REALTORS®, said. “With interest rates projected to drop in 2024, we expect energized market activity in the final month of the year. We anticipate prospective buyers will begin looking for their new homes, and sellers who were on the fence for many months will finally make the leap into the market.”
Single-Family Homes
Inventory remained tight in the Iowa market for November despite seeing a slight gain year-over-year. November saw 2,685 new listings, an increase of 3.3% from the 2,599 new listings recorded in November 2022. Still the homes represent a 21.5% decrease from October.
Home sales continued a steady decline in November: the 2,461 sales represented a 9.9% decrease from last year and a 6.9% decrease from October.
The pending sales of 2,049 homes in November is a 5.3% decline compared to the 2,164 pending sales of one year ago. The figures were similar month-over-month, coming in at a 16.9% decrease from the 2,466 pending sales of October.
The days on the market increased year-over-year to 41 days compared to the 33 day average of November 2022. Median sales prices increased 11.9% year-over-year to $214,823. However, the median sales price shows one bright spot, a decrease from the $216,000 median price of October.
Townhomes and Condos
The market for townhomes and condos in Iowa mirrored that of single-family homes in nearly every metric for November.
With 408 new listings, the market saw a 9.1% increase from the 374 listings recorded a year ago. However, the metric was down monthly - an 11.9% decrease from the 463 listings of October.
Year-over-year sales declined by 2.4% in November compared to the 332 sales completed at the same time in 2022. With 324 properties sold, the metric was a 344 properties sold, the metric was a 5.8% decline from homes sold in October.
Pending sales were similar. The 273 pending sales of November represent a 6.2% decline from those sold in November 2022. Monthly, the figures were down more considerably by 17% from October.
Days on the market also increased for townhomes and condos last month, going from 44 days on the market in November 2022 to 54 this year. Median sales price increased, by 11.4% year-over-year to an average of $244,000. More immediately, the figures are a bit brighter: days on the market decreased considerably from October’s high of 66 days, and the median sales price dropped a bit from the $249,725 recorded last month.
Statewide Market Report for November
View the Detailed PDF Report on Statewide Statistics
Housing Market Reports by Iowa County
View Reports on Single-Family homes
View Reports on Townhouse-Condo homes
The information used to create the IAR August Housing Trends Report was current as of December 18. 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 8,000 members and affiliates. The IAR releases a Housing Trends Report each month.
Sources: National Association of REALTORS®, Iowa Association of REALTORS®, Data from Multiple Listing Services in Iowa, and ShowingTime.