Housing Trends in Coralville IA – Market Snapshot February 20, 2012

Coralville Real Estate Market Update February 20, 2012

It’s good news all around today. Not only are home sales up in Iowa City again this month, they’re also up in Coralville. This is especially good news in Coralville as home sales took a bit of a dip in January. I figured it was a glitch, it’s good to see I was right.

11 homes sold in Coralville in February so far compared to 5 this time last year. 24 homes are listed as pending or contingent and 175 homes are currently showing as Active Listings on the Iowa City MLS.

As I said in my post earlier today, if you’re on the fence about selling your home, now would be a REALLY good time to list it! Spring is typically the best time to list your home anyway. This is the time of year when you will get the biggest number of buyers out looking for homes at the same time. Iowa City is a relocation destination and the next few months is when new Residents and Faculty for the UI Hospitals and University of Iowa start looking for accommodation this Fall. Both Coralville and North Liberty are popular options for folks relocating to the area. Add to that the renters that are looking to move into their own home around the time their lease expires in June or July and you have a whole lot of potential buyers for your newly listed home

 Coralville Real Estate Market Update February 20, 2012

 175 Active Listings
24 Homes Pending or Contingent
11 homes sold in Iowa City in February to date -  6 Single Family Homes, 4 Condos and one Zero lot

The Absorption Rate is at 7.7 months. That’s an average of 233 days on market. If you follow the link you’ll find out more about how the absorption rate is calculated.

The trend in the housing market in Coralville is once again moving in the right direction. With increased buyer activity in the next few months we should make more headway and move towards a more balanced market.

Whether you’re buying or selling a home in Coralville, I’d love to hear from you. As your Local “Virtual” Brokerage Cardinal Realty offers top of the line service to buyers and sellers. With a “keep it simple” approach to real estate my goal is to leverage the power of the Internet and Technology and combine that with Personal Service to offer unparalleled support to clients throughout the buying or selling process. 

 

Real Estate Market Report Coralville IA January 2012

Home Sales in Coralville IA January – December 2011

Home Sales in Coralville by School District January – December 2011

Home Sales in Iowa City January – December 2011

Home Sales in Iowa City by School District January – December 2011

 

Data for this market update pulled from the Iowa City MLS February 20, 2011

 

 

Another Good Month for Home Sales in Iowa City – Market Snapshot February 20, 2012

Iowa City real estate market update February 20, 2012

Home sales are on track to be up again in February in Iowa City – This will be the 8th straight month where we see in increase in home sales. It looks like we’re in for a really good spring and summer in the Iowa City real estate market.

So now to the numbers. 15 homes sold in Iowa City in February so far compared to 11 this time last year. 71 homes are listed as pending or contingent and 379 homes are currently showing as Active Listings on the Iowa City MLS.

If you’re on the fence about selling your home, now would be a REALLY good time to list it! Spring is right around the corner. Iowa City is a relocation destination and the next few months is when new Residents and Faculty for the UI Hospitals and University of Iowa start looking for accommodation this Fall. Add to that the renters that are looking to move into their own home around the time their lease expires in June or July and you have a big pool of buyers out there. I get so many searches to my website from sellers asking the question about when is the best time to list a home in Iowa City. The answer to that is NOW!

 Iowa City real estate market update February 20, 2012

 379 Active Listings
71 Homes Pending or Contingent
15 homes sold in Iowa City in February to date -  9 Single Family Homes, 5 Condos and one Zero lot

The Absorption Rate is at 5.5 months. That’s an average of 167 days on market. If you follow the link you’ll find out more about how the absorption rate is calculated. The absorption rate is up from 4.5 months last month and  has to do with the fact that inventory of homes on the market is higher. One thing is for sure, houses in Iowa City are selling in greater numbers again. If this trend in the Iowa City Housing Market continues in the coming months and we have a higher turnover of homes on the market  we will see a more stable and balanced market in Iowa City very soon.

Whether you’re buying or selling a home in Iowa City, I’d love to hear from you. As your Local “Virtual” Brokerage Cardinal Realty offers top of the line service to buyers and sellers. With a “keep it simple” approach to real estate my goal is to leverage the power of the Internet and Technology and combine that with Personal Service to offer unparalleled support to clients throughout the buying or selling process. 

 

Iowa City Real Estate Market Report January 2012

Home Sales in Iowa City by School District 2011

Home Sales in Iowa City January through December 2011

A Closer Look at Home Sales in Iowa City 2011

 

Data for this market update pulled from the Iowa City MLS February 20, 2011

Home Sales in Coralville January 2012 Compared to January 2011

Single family homes, condos and zero lots sold in Coralville January 2012

7 homes sold in Coralville in January 2012 compared to 15 homes sold in January 2011. If that seems like a bit of a drastic drop, only 3 sold in January 2010, which kind of puts things more in perspective. In fact I went back a few years and the low single digits is more typical for the last few years, making 7 seem more “normal” for the time of year than the high 15 homes sold last year.

The absorption rate is at 7.2 months, that’s an average of 217 days on market. (6 months absorption rate is a balanced market). Coralville is not doing as well as Iowa City where home sales are up for the 7th straight month and the absorption rate down to a low 4.8 months. If you check out the annual report for home sales in Coralville for 2011 you’ll see that in general the trend is positive with a glitch every now and then. It’s likely that this month is one of those glitches.

As we head towards spring and the peak buying time of the year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the numbers of homes sold in Coralville up again in the coming months. Especially when you consider Coralville benefits from its close proximity to Iowa City and is popular with buyers relocating to the Iowa City area for the UIOWA and UI Hospitals. With incoming Residents and Students thinking about accommodation for the Fall semester right around the corner, these are buyers that will have a big impact on home sales in Coralville in the coming months.

Single family homes, condos and zero lots sold in Coralville January 2012

Average Price
Jan 2012
Average Price
Jan 2011
Median Price
Jan 2012
Median Price
Jan 2011
Single Family175,833267,056215,000268,500
Condos189,500142,083189,50083,250

So what’s the takeaway this month? Too few homes sold in January in Coralville to really make anything of the data. The single family homes that sold were lower priced homes, while the condos that sold were priced on the higher end. That right there is a strange phenomena for Coralville. We’re just going to have to wait and see what the spring market brings.

One thing’s for sure. If you’ve got a house to sell, now is the time to get it on the market. You want to have your house on the market at a time when there are the most buyers out there to see it. If not as many homes are selling in Coralville at the moment, you want to  have the advantage of having yours on the market when there are the most eyes on it. And that just happens to be spring and early summer.

If you have a house to sell in Coralville I’d love the opportunity to talk with you and discuss your options. You can either call at 319-400-0268 or drop me an email with some basic information about your home and I’ll provide you with a complimentary market analysis.

 

Home Sales in Coralville IA January – December 2011

Home Sales in Coralville by School District January – December 2011

Home Sales in Iowa City January – December 2011

Home Sales in Iowa City by School District January – December 2011

 

Data for the market report for January collected from the Iowa City MLS February 9, 2012

Home Sales Up in January for the 7th Straight Month in Iowa City

Home sales up for 7th straight month in January 2012

Lately my market reports are full of positive news for housing trends in Iowa City. Home sales for January are no exception. Once again home sales are up in Iowa City. In fact home sales in Iowa City are up by a whopping 138% compared to January 2011. 31 homes sold in Iowa City January 2012 compared to 13 in 2011. And if that wasn’t impressive enough. This is the highest number of homes sold in Iowa City in January of any year since 2007 when 35 homes sold!

The absorption rate has dropped to 4.8 months, that’s an average of 148 days on market. (6 months absorption rate is a balanced market). 4.8 months absorption rate is technically a sellers market. Home prices don’t totally reflect that yet. Since I’m on a roll with good news, there is positive data to share with you on that too. Although about half of the homes sold in Iowa City last month sold at less than 95% of list price, (indicating that buyers are still putting pressure on prices), a few homes sold in Iowa City ABOVE list price in January. That is definitely a good sign for sellers and gives us every reason to be optimistic about the spring market.

Home sales up for 7th straight month in January 2012 

Average Price
Jan 2012
Average Price
Jan 2011
Median Price
Jan 2012
Median Price
Jan 2011
Single Family210,188233,318164,900221,980
Condos203,350180,576192,749159,900

What’s the takeaway this month? If you’ve got a house to sell, now would be a good time to talk to a Realtor. This market report is further indication that the housing market in Iowa City is definitely on the right track. What you need to know now is how that relates you and you’re house. As you can tell from all the information in my market reports, one of my specialties is figuring out the market. I’d love the opportunity to talk with you and discuss your options. You can either call at 319-400-0268 or drop me an email with some basic information about your home and I’ll provide you with a complimentary market analysis.

Home Sales in Iowa City January – December 2011

Home Sales in Iowa City by School District January – December 2011

 

Data for the market report for January collected from the Iowa City MLS February 6, 2012

Homes Sold in Coralville by School District 2011 Compared to 2010

Homes sold + median price Coralville 2011 compared to 2010

The most efficient way to search for homes in the Iowa City area is by school district. That way you can narrow down neighborhoods without making the area so small that the search becomes ineffective. That’s the principal I use when helping buyers to find homes and figured it’s just as effective a tool for researching homes sold by neighborhood. Last week I looked at Iowa City. Today I’m looking at homes sold in Coralville.

Coralville has a population of about 20,000 and there are 3 elementary schools in Coralville itself. Some children living in the north of Coralville visit one of the other three elementary schools shown on the chart below in neighboring towns Tiffin, North Liberty and Iowa City. (If you check out this post where I created a map of elementary schools in the area you can see just how close Coralville is to its neighbors).

***Clicking on the chart will take you to the full size version for easier reading

Homes sold + median price Coralville 2011 compared to 2010

Kirkwood & Central Neighborhoods – Largest Number of homes sold in Coralville at the Most Affordable Prices

Kirkwood and Central Elementary Schools are in the heart of Coralville and this is where the most affordable homes can be found. This is the more established part of Coralville. This is where you’ll find smaller single family homes, apartment style condos and A LOT of zero lots.  For newer homes, buyers need to look  further north. I relocated to Coralville in 2000 myself and a lot has changed since then. “New” Coralville, pretty much anything north of Holiday Rd, looks a lot different than it did when I arrived 12 years ago. The 12th Avenue extension takes commuters to North Liberty these days and Van Allen Elementary is just past the boundary between Coralville and North Liberty.

Opportunities for Buyers in the High End, Luxury Market in Coralville

Homes sold in the Wickham, Van Allan and Lincoln school districts as you can see are generally priced higher. The explanation for that is that the area to the north of Coralville has primarily larger single family homes and luxury condos. (Homes sold in the Clear Creek school district are apartment style condos in apartment buildings at Coral Ct).

If you checked out my market reports at the beginning of the year for Coralville you’ll know that home sales were down a bit for the year compared to 2010. (275 homes sold in coralville in 2011 compared to 295 in 2010). What’s clear from this chart is that home sales for the higher end and luxury market are down. This is obviously not great if you’re a seller, but we all know every market is good for someone and this means opportunities for buyers.  With interest rates below 4% it can only be a matter of time before buyers recognize they can get a whole lot of house with an interest rate that low!

I’m all about providing as much information as possible for buyers and sellers in Coralville and Iowa City. If you have any questions for me, please be sure to drop me an email or give me a call. I’m here to help!

 

Data for this market report was pulled from the Iowa City MLS January 31, 2011