This is the first of many market reports as we kick off the new year. I figured I’d start by looking at home sales in Iowa City for the year and drill it down from there. I’ll do the same with Coralville and North Liberty. There’s plenty of data to analyse to see how the Iowa City real estate market is trending now that we have a whole year to look back on.
802 homes sold in Iowa City from January – December 2011 compared to 785 homes sold in 2010. That’s a 2% increase in home sales. If that seems a little weak, just take a look at the graph below and you’ll see that actually we did really well to come out ahead after what was a dodgy first half of the year.
Average Price 2011 | Average Price 2010 | Median Price 2011 | Median Price 2010 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single Family | 227,505 | 213,033 | 201,700 | 189,000 |
| Condos | 150,330 | 141,135 | 139,000 | 134,900 |
| Zero Lots | 150,890 | 157,773 | 151,500 | 154,900 |
When you look at the table you can see that the average price for homes sold in Iowa City appears to have gone up in 2011. (At least for single family homes and condos). This is misleading. In 2010 first time home buyers drove the market and they’re typically looking at lower priced homes. In 2011 it wasn’t first time home buyers driving the market, which I think explains why more higher priced homes sold. That’s just my take. I could be wrong, but since there are still more homes for sale than buyers to buy them it doesn’t make sense for prices to rise. All in all though the trend in the housing market in Iowa City is positive and if home sales in Iowa City remain strong in 2012 we can look forward to a genuine increase in home prices in the not too distant future.
If you’re thinking of selling your home in Iowa City and would like me to prepare a CMA (Current Market Analysis) please call me anytime at 319-400-0268
For a complete list of homes for sale in Iowa City just send me an email letting me know what you’re looking for and I’ll send you a list of homes fitting your criteria directly through the Iowa City MLS.
Source for data for this market report was the Iowa City MLS January 3, 2012.
