Iowa City Real Estate Blog

Real Estate Market Update: Homes Sold in Iowa City February 2010

It's the beginning of the month and time to look at home sales in Iowa City in February. 

The number of homes sold in Iowa City in February was down compared to last year. 28 homes sold in February 2010 in comparison to 39 in February 2009. If you look at my weekly update, you'll see that we have a lot of homes under contract, so even if we didn't have a bunch of closings in February, they are in the pipeline...

The median price of homes sold in February was $160,500, compared to $162,900 last year with an average of 89 days on market.

Right now there are a lot of buyers out and about wanting to take advantage of the expanded homebuyer tax credit for repeat buyers, so it's not really so much the number of homes sold we should be looking at - it's the number of homes going under contract we should keep an eye on. Check back next week for my weekly report and see where we're at then.

Buying or selling, we have an interesting market right now. I'm all for getting information out there, so check back frequently to see what's going on in the Iowa City area real estate market. The more you know before you buy or sell a home, the better shape you'll be in when it comes to either listing a home for sale or making an offer on a home that's currently on the market.

Coralville Real Estate Market Report February 2010

North Liberty Real Estate Market Report February 2010

Real Estate Market Update: Homes Sold in Coralville February 2010

It's the beginning of the month and time for a first look at home sales for February in Coralville Iowa.

The number of homes sold in Coralville was up in February compared to last year. 11 homes sold in February 2010 in comparison to 10 in February 2009. This is great news, especially since home sales were down in February in both Iowa City and North Liberty. If you follow my real estate market reports you'll know that Coralville hasn't been doing as well with the first time homebuyer as Iowa City or North Liberty. Coralville does well with the move-up buyer and I guess last month was a case in point.

The median price of homes sold in February was $214,900 compared to $185,500 last year.  With an average of 88 days on market compared to 120 days on market last year.

The expanded homebuyer tax credit for repeat buyers continues to bring out buyers so the coming months should be interesting in Coralville and the greater Iowa City area.

Buying or selling a home in Coralville, we have an interesting market right now. I'm all for getting information out there... Why not subscribe to my blog below? It's an easy way to get regular market updates for Coralville and the greater Iowa City area.

In the meantime here's a link to my weekly market update for this week.

The more you know before you buy or sell a home, the better shape you'll be in when it comes to either listing a home for sale or making an offer on a home that's currently on the market. Questions? Just give me a call at 319-400-0268.


Iowa City Real Estate Market Report February 2010

North Liberty Real Estate Market Report February 2010

North Liberty Iowa Real Estate Market Update February 2010

It's March already and time to look at home sales in February for the North Liberty area.

Surprisingly home sales are down compared to last year in the North Liberty area. 17 homes sold in February 2010 in comparison to 23 in February 2009.* I say surprisingly, because North Liberty is one of the fastest growing towns in Iowa and home sales are strong in the area. Check out my market report for the greater Iowa City area in 2009 and you'll see what I mean. You may also want to check my weekly market updates in the coming weeks, I'm sure we'll see this is just a glitch.

The median price of homes sold in February up at $160,000 compared to $135,900 in February 2009. That's an increase of 18%. The average days on market was 125 days, compared to 103 days on market last year.

North Liberty has benefited from the The homebuyer tax credit and now that some repeat buyers are also eligible it will certainly continue to have an effect on the North Liberty real estate market as we head towards spring. And remember, for this tax credit buyers need to have an accepted offer on a home by April 30, 2010, so this will mean a lively couple of months coming up in North Liberty.

Buying or selling a home in North Liberty, we have an interesting market right now. I'm all for getting information out there, so why not keep up to date and subscribe to my blog below? It's an easy way to get regular updates on the real estate market in North Liberty and the greater Iowa City area.

The more you know before you buy or sell a home, the better shape you'll be in when it comes to either listing a home for sale or making an offer on a home that's currently on the market.




*Oxford and Tiffin are included in the MLS data for North Liberty. 1 house sold in Tiffin and 1 in Oxford in February.

Weekly real estate market update for Iowa City February 22, 2010: Homes Sold, Under Contract & Active Listings

511 Active Listings
96 Under Contract
5 Homes Sold Feb 15 - Feb 20
7.0 Months of inventory on the market

An absorption rate of 7 months means Iowa City remains a buyers market for now. Despite the extremely cold and long winter we're having there are a lot of buyers out and about wanting to take advantage of the homebuyer tax credit and with 96 homes under contract things are looking good for spring. 

If you're not familiar with the absorption rate 6 months of inventory of homes on the market is considered neutral and less than 6 months a sellers market. For more info here's a link to the first post I wrote where I included the absorption rate and an explanation on how it's calculated.

Last week's real estate market statistics for Iowa City

North Liberty Real Estate Market Report January 2010

It's the beginning of the month and time for a first look at homes sold in the North Liberty area in January.

Homes sold in North Liberty are up by 11% compared to last year. 20 homes sold in January 2010 in comparison to 18 in January 2009. Considering you really need to be motivated to buy a house in a very hard and bitterly cold winter in Iowa this is definitely good news.

The average price of homes sold in January was also up slightly at $154,752 compared to $144,130 in January 2009. That's an increase of 7%. With an average of 80 days on the market.

North Liberty benefited greatly from the first time homebuyer tax credit all through last year and January continues in that trend. It will be interesting to see what effect  the expanded homebuyer tax credit for repeat buyers will have on the North Liberty real estate market as we head towards the home buying season. And remember, this tax credit is a limited time offer with little chance of being extended, so this could mean a lively couple of months coming up in North Liberty.

Buying or selling a home in North Liberty, it's definitely a good time to keep an eye on the market.  The more you know before you buy or sell a home, the better shape you'll be in when it comes to either listing a home for sale or making an offer on a home that's currently on the market. A CMA - Current Market analysis - is something sellers are used to. I believe there is a benefit to buyers too before they make an offer on a home and provide a CMA for both buyer and seller clients.


Source for data: Iowa City Area MLS February 4, 2010




Iowa City Real Estate Market Report

Coralville Real Estate Market Report

Coralville Real Estate Market Report January 2010

It's the beginning of the month and time for a first look at homes sold in the Coralville area in January.

The number of homes sold in Coralville was down in January compared to last year. 3 homes sold in January 2010 in comparison to 5 in January 2009. January is historically not a strong month as you can tell. This year we're having an even rougher winter than usual that might have contributed to the low number.

The average price of homes sold in January was $197,333 with an average of 130 days on market. The average price is down by 14% from $230,460 in January 2009.

Unlike Iowa City and North Liberty, Coralville has not benefited greatly from the first time homebuyer tax credit. We're hoping the expanded homebuyer tax credit for repeat buyers will influence the market place in the coming months and bring up those numbers as we head towards the home buying season. For now we just watch and wait.

Buying or selling a home in Coralville, it's definitely a good time to keep an eye on the market. Subscribe to my blog below and you'll get regular real estate market updates for the area. The more you know before you buy or sell a home, the better shape you'll be in when it comes to either listing a home for sale or making an offer on a home that's currently on the market. (I do a full CMA - Current Market analysis - for both buyers and sellers).

Iowa City Real Estate Market Report January 2010

It's the beginning of the month and time for my first look at homes sold in Iowa City in January.

The number of homes sold in Iowa City in January was down compared to last year. 16 homes sold in January 2010 in comparison to 22 in January 2009. Not exactly a great kick off to the year, but way too early to call a trend.

The average price of homes sold in January was $268,265 with an average of 89 days on market. The average price is up by 31% from $205,056 in the same time period in 2009. This is a fair indication that it was not the first time home buyer that was doing the home buying in January. Perhaps the new expanded homebuyer tax credit for repeat buyers is starting to influence the market place. We'll know more in the coming months, as I said in the previous paragraph, this is too early to call a trend!

Buying or selling a home in Iowa City, it's definitely a good time to keep an eye on the market. Subscribe to my blog below and you'll get regular real estate market updates for the area. The more you know before you buy or sell a home, the better shape you'll be in when it comes to either listing a home for sale or making an offer on a home that's currently on the market. (I do a full CMA - Current Market analysis - for both buyers and sellers).

Source for data: Iowa City Area MLS February 2, 2010.

North Liberty Real Estate Market Report December 2009

As we kick off a new year I have lots of data to share with you in my monthly report on what's going on in the real estate market in North Liberty Iowa.  I'll start with a year over year comparison of the monthly and quarterly numbers of homes sold in North Liberty for the period ending December 31, 2009. Followed by a year over year comparison of annual home sales in North Liberty for 2009.

Homes Sold in North Liberty December 2009 Compared to December 2008

17 homes sold in North Liberty in December 2009 compared to 30 homes sold in 2008.

Median price: $259,000 compared to $181,450 in 2008.

Average days on market: 145 compared to 121 in December 2008.

Homes Sold in North Liberty in the 4th Quarter - October - December 2009

110 homes sold in North Liberty October through December 2009 compared to 89 homes sold in the 4th quarter 2008.

Median price: $141,700 compared to $164,900 in the 4th Quarter 2008.

Average days on market: 106 compared to 118 in the 4th Quarter 2008.

Homes Sold in North Liberty January 1 2009 - December 31, 2009

615 homes sold in North Liberty January through December 2009 compared to 534 homes sold in 2008.

Median Price: $146,000 compared to $157,700 in 2008.

Average days on market: 102 compared to 108 in 2008.

North Liberty is one of the fastest growing communities in Iowa and had a very good year for home sales in 2009. Well priced new construction attracted price conscious first time homebuyers. The sharp decline in December is probably an indicator of the fact that first time homebuyers purchased their homes before the November 30 deadline. For the year home sales were up by 15%. 

With the extension of the homebuyer tax credit, it seems likely that first time homebuyers will be out and about again now that the holidays are over and 2010 should be another good year for North Liberty. We'll look for confirmation of that by watching the trends closely in the coming months.

Iowa City Real Estate Market Report December 2009

Coralville Real Estate Market Report December 2009

Source for data: Iowa City Area MLS January 5, 2010.

Coralville Real Estate Market Report December 2009

It's the beginning of the month and time for my monthly report on what's going on in the real estate market in Coralville. With an entire year to look back on I have a lot of data to share with you this month. I will start with a year over year comparison of the monthly and quarterly numbers of homes sold in Coralville for the period ending December 31, 2009. Followed by a year over year comparison of annual home sales in Coralville for 2009.

Homes Sold in Coralville December 2009 Compared to December 2008

12 homes sold in Coralville in December 2009 compared to 25 homes sold in 2008.

Median price: $189,500 compared to $176,900 in 2008.

Average days on market: 89 compared to 123 in December 2008.

Homes Sold in Coralville in the 4th Quarter - October - December 2009

55 homes sold in Coralville October through December 2009. 55 homes also sold in the 4th quarter 2008.

Median price: $190,000 compared to $176,900 in the 4th Quarter 2008.

Average days on market: 92 compared to 117 in the 4th Quarter 2008.

Homes Sold in Coralville January 1 2009 - December 31, 2009

300 homes sold in Coralville January through December 2009 compared to 324 homes sold in 2008.

Median Price: $189,000 compared to $193,125 in 2008.

Average days on market: 104 compared to 105 in 2008.

Home sales in Coralville bounced around a bit in 2009. After some ups and downs and a notable sharp decline in December, Coralville managed to end the year with a 7% decline in home sales.  We will need to watch the trends closely in the coming months to see where Coralville is headed in 2010.

North Liberty Real Estate Market Report December 2009

Iowa City Real Estate Market Report December 2009

Source for Data: Iowa City Area MLS January 5, 2010.

Iowa City Real Estate Market Report December 2009

I have so much data to share with you this month that it was tough to know where to start! I decided to do it chronologically. First a year over year comparison of the monthly and quarterly numbers of homes sold in Iowa City for the period ending December 31, 2009. Followed by a year over year comparison of annual home sales in Iowa City for 2009.

Homes Sold in Iowa City December 2009 Compared to December 2008

48 homes sold in Iowa City in December 2009 compared to 41 homes sold in 2008. That's an increase of 17%.

Median price: $219,950 compared to $175,000 in 2008.

Average days on market: 115 compared to 126 in December 2008.

Homes Sold in Iowa City in the 4th Quarter - October - December 2009

169 homes sold in Iowa City October through December 2009 compared to 127 in the 4th quarter 2008. That's an increase of 33%.

Median price: $178,000 compared to $183,000 in the 4th Quarter 2008.

Average days on market: 95 compared to 112 in the 4th Quarter 2008.

We ended the year on a high note with a strong 4th quarter for home sales in Iowa City. Below are the numbers for the year. Altogether we see a modest increase in home sales for the year. Encouraging data, especially for home sellers when you think of the slow start we had at the beginning of 2009.

Homes Sold in Iowa City January 1 2009 - December 31, 2009

879 homes sold in Iowa City January through December 2009 compared to 857 homes sold in 2008. That's an increase of 3%.

Median Price: $172,900 compared to $173,001 in 2008.

Average days on market: 93 compared to 100 in 2008.

Coralville Real Estate Market Report December 2009

North Liberty Real Estate Market Report December 2009

Source for Data: Iowa City Area MLS January 5, 2010.