June 2018 Des Moines area high priced homes report

June closings of luxury homes priced over $700,000 on the Des Moines MLS eased last month with 5 closed vs. 8 closed in May. Pendings continued to decline falling from 17 in May to 13 in June. The first two weeks of June is when our market traditionally hits its sold/pending peak for the year and that seems to hit the crowded luxury market pretty hard this year with a 23% decline month on month.  Active listings were up 2 from 93 on average in May to 95 in June. I predicted last month that without a corresponding pickup in closings or pendings the trends did not appear to bode well for sellers in the second half of the year in this crowded space and the $700k+ now seems almost certainly primed for a slowdown from this sping's lackluster showing.

With 95 units active at the end of the month there was an 18.8 months supply at June's sales pace which would indicate the buyer's market for luxury homes in the Des Moines area continues into a 7th month in July.

Waukee led the metro in closed sales with two units closed followed by West Des Moines, Urbandale and Des Moines west with 1 unit each. West Des Moines leads the metro with the largest number of listings at 19 active, and 3 pending, followed by Ankeny with 11 active and no pendings, Norwalk with 10 active and 2 pending, Urbandale and Johnston with 10 actives and 1 pending each and Waukee with 10 active and no pendings.

The highest priced home sold was 105 Fox Landing in Waukee which sold for $1,260,000 at a healthy $378 a square foot . The highest pending was 1738 S 40th Ct in West Des Moines at the last listed price of $1,636,000 and $220 a sqft, followed by 10510 NW 75th Pl Johnston at $296 a sqft and going pending after 587 days on market. The $700,000 to $850,000 category was the most active again with 5 sold and 9 pending.

Average days on market were Active: 181, Pending: 140, and Sold: 157. The longest cummulative days on market for a sold was 383 for 783 SE Walnut Ridge Dr. which was first listed on 02/13/2017.

The dollar value of inventory rose again from $94,767,372 in May to $106,991,664 in June, reflecting an 13% gain. Twenty three Des Moines MLS areas with homes above $700,000 saw no sales for the month. Inventory continues to build as we enter the second half of the year and again shadow inventory of avilable lots awaiting a luxury build out if the right buyer comes along probably contunes to be a drag on resales. Recent data also show that for the past year new construction builds have pretty consistently been about 30-40% of all MLS sales.

If you need your home to stand out in this market or if you're planning to buy a luxury home this year I can help. Please call or text me at 515-988-3726 for a consultation today.