The president of the Iowa Association of Realtors says there are several positive numbers in the sales report statewide for May. Terry Knapp of Harlan says nearly 2,500 homes were sold in May. Knapp says sales were up .2% percent from last May, and up considerably from April.
In fact, the percentage increase from April to May was 17.6%. Not only were more homes selling, he says the average price also increased.
The average sales price in May was $145,580 and the median price was $128,900, which was up .7% from last year. Knapp says the average number of days a house was on the market was 109 days in May, down from 111 days in April.
Knap says a couple of factors are driving a stronger housing market. Knapp says the first-time homebuyers credit is one of the main factors and he says the interest rates are still at record lows despite moving up a little. He says first-time homebuyers are buying entry level homes and he says that’s given them a "trickle" effect up.
Knapp says Iowa didn’t have the number of foreclosures seen in other states and that makes it easier to turn things around. Knapp says, "We definitely are eating up the inventory and I think that’s going to create some new construction that’s going to start, and I think that’s probably the beginning of… maybe we’ve hit bottom and starting to look forward to better things ahead."
Knapp says 20 of the 44 Realtor boards reported an increase in the average sales price of homes from May of last year.