2018 Des Moines area home sales have started out a bit slow as compared to this month last year, falling by appx. -3.9% MLS wide. The drop was probably due in part to the bitterly cold start to the year which took out last January's lows by -17 degrees.
738 units were sold in January 2018 and compared to 768 in the year prior. The top three improving areas were:
Altoona: +60%
Ankeny: +21.8%
Urbandale: +5.7%
All other areas saw sales declines. The three biggest declines yoy were seen in:
Clive: -50%
Waukee: -46.7%
West Des Moines: -39.5%
Average closed prices eked out a small gain of .8% for the month yoy. The top three appreciating areas were:
Indianola: +44%
Altoona: +11.6%
Des Moines: +7.2%
The three areas posting the biggest price declines yoy were:
Clive: -13.5%
Grimes: -11.2%
West Des Moines: -4.1%
Days on market dropped a bit from 101 to 96 for a -5% drop. Affordable properties priced under $200,000 continue to be in short supply with 1.5 months of inventory as compared to 4.6 months of inventory in the $200-$400,000 range and 8.6 months in the $400k plus range*Data courtesy of Les Sulgrove Simply Des Moines
Of the 10 counties served by the MLS the largest unit sales gains YTD were in:
Story: +125%
Adair: +50%
Boone: +45.5%
The largest unit declines by county YTD were:
Warren: -30.8%
Dallas: -27.3%
Madison: -20%
Interest rates on the 30yr have risen for the past five weeks straight from an average of 3.95% on December 31st to 4.31% to start the week on February 12th. That amounts to $30 a month more in payment per $100,000 of borrowing, from $329/mo to $359/mo or an increase of appx. 9.1%. If annualized that same payment would rise appx $224 more. So, in a nutshell home prices went up for buyers in January, but they didn't get any more home for the money. Ouch.
It's reasonable to assume that rate appreciation will moderate and that rates will stabilize soon but the sudden rise coupled with inflation fears from wage gains was enough to send Wall St. into a tailspin last week, set bond yields soaring, cause spikes in volatility and cause major drops in all three indexes.
Could the local property market be affected? Most likely, but February will be the litmus test on whether or not market turmoil will lead to sales declines in the metro. Though it's safe to say that both home buyers and sellers will both be nervously watching for some signs of stabilization in the second half of the month.
City |
1/2018 Total Sold |
1/2017 Total Sold |
Total Sold % Change |
2018 YTD Sold |
2017 YTD Sold |
YTD Sold % Change |
24 |
15 |
+60.0% |
24 |
15 |
+60.0% |
|
106 |
87 |
+21.8% |
106 |
87 |
+21.8% |
|
8 |
16 |
-50.0% |
8 |
16 |
-50.0% |
|
198 |
214 |
-7.5% |
198 |
214 |
-7.5% |
|
16 |
23 |
-30.4% |
16 |
23 |
-30.4% |
|
13 |
17 |
-23.5% |
13 |
17 |
-23.5% |
|
13 |
16 |
-18.8% |
13 |
16 |
-18.8% |
|
37 |
35 |
+5.7% |
37 |
35 |
+5.7% |
|
24 |
45 |
-46.7% |
24 |
45 |
-46.7% |
|
49 |
81 |
-39.5% |
49 |
81 |
-39.5% |
|
| TOTAL - DMAAR MLS (all cities) | 738 |
768 |
-3.9% |
738 |
768 |
-3.9% |
City |
1/2018 Avg Sale Price |
1/2017 Avg Sale Price |
Avg Sale Price % Change |
1/2018 Median Sale Price |
1/2017 Median Sale Price |
Median Sale Price % Change |
235,754 |
211,179 |
+11.6% |
233,166 |
204,500 |
+14.0% |
|
258,780 |
266,603 |
-2.9% |
248,450 |
249,900 |
-0.6% |
|
287,605 |
332,510 |
-13.5% |
289,950 |
329,000 |
-11.9% |
|
141,560 |
132,024 |
+7.2% |
127,500 |
122,750 |
+3.9% |
|
251,529 |
283,394 |
-11.2% |
209,950 |
231,939 |
-9.5% |
|
221,948 |
153,680 |
+44.4% |
218,000 |
158,500 |
+37.5% |
|
290,842 |
290,987 |
-0.1% |
290,000 |
274,236 |
+5.7% |
|
290,814 |
281,882 |
+3.2% |
233,900 |
212,500 |
+10.1% |
|
285,622 |
280,227 |
+1.9% |
268,250 |
275,000 |
-2.5% |
|
238,344 |
248,408 |
-4.1% |
213,000 |
217,500 |
-2.1% |
|
| TOTAL - DMAAR MLS (all cities) | 212,465 |
210,792 |
+0.8% |
187,950 |
179,750 |
+4.6% |
Data provided as a courtesy of the Iowa Association of Realtors and the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors. All rights reserved.
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