Iowa Realtor information on home sales.
The number of homes sold in November was down a bit from those sold in October, but Iowa Association of Realtors president, Jen Burkamper says sales were up by double digits compared to last November.
“Fifteen and a half percent for November over last year — and last year was a great year. So, we’re pretty excited about that,” Burkamper says. With one month remaining in 2020, it looks like the numbers are going to beat 2019.
“For the year-to-date, we are up 8.3%, which given the climate of the pandemic, we are pretty excited about that as well,” she says. Three-thousand-727 homes sold in November — nearly 500 more than November of 2019. Burkamper says loan rates and lockdowns seem to be behind the positive numbers.
“The interest rate being under three percent really does help drive the market,” according to Burkamper. “And then also, with the pandemic, everybody being copped up in their homes, maybe working from home, homeschooling — people are realizing that maybe they need a little more space, maybe they need a home office. I think that is really driving the demand for buyers.
The “for sale” signs didn’t stay up very long for most of the homes that sold. “For November, the days on the market were down to 48. We haven’t seen that since 2018, homes selling that quickly,” Burkamper says.
The quick turnaround is good for those with homes on the market — but it makes it tough for those wanting to buy a home — and realtors looking for homes for their clients.
“With the inventory being low, realtors have to do a lot of extra work as far as finding potential properties that maybe aren’t on the market,” Burkamper says. “And then for buyers — they’ve got to be really ready to go. They have to have a preapproval on hand – and it really helps for them to work with a professional realtor to make sure they have someone looking out for their best interests.”
The median sales price of $180,000 was up 9.4% when compared to November 2019.