Observations / january 2015

2014 Des Moines Real Estate Sales—It’s a Wrap

By Les Sulgrove

The final figures for the Des Moines real estate market will be available by mid-January 2015, but there is enough information now to give a good picture of where 2014 home sales in Des Moines will end up.

We are ending the year with fewer than 3,500 homes on the market. This number should be over 5,000 based on previous years history. I began collecting and analyzing home sale data in 2007 and Des Moines has not seen this low number of homes for sale for well over 10 years.

Home values have appreciated approximately 2½% over last year and the average sale price was $182,000. The driving factors to these increases are a combination of low and very affordable mortgage interest rates and lack of homes for sale.

Lastly, the number of homes sold surpassed 2013 sales of 10,750 but only marginally. Many REALTORS® believe that if we had more homes for sale last spring that we could have sold even more homes in 2014.

Some numbers that will amaze you!

Total Sales Volume just over 2 Billion Dollars and nearly 11,000 sales
80% of Sales were Single Family Residential—16% Condo/Townhome and 4% Acreages
One of every Four homes for sale in 2014 was New Construction
Top Three Areas making up 1/3 of all sales were in Ankeny (1), West Des Moines (2) and Des Moines Northwest (3)
Top Three Months representing 1/3 of all sales were June (1), July (2) and May (3)
Average Home Sold in 2014 was 1,500 sq ft, had 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and was built in 1977
That translates into 33,500 bedrooms and 25,700 baths!

Predictions for 2015

The number of homes for sale will increase in 2015. I believe many sellers have spent the last couple of years making home improvements
As a result, I also predict an increase in home pricing as we head towards a spring market.
I believe the cost of a typical 30-year fixed rate mortgage will increase by a modest ½% to 4½% in 2015.
Unemployment in Central Iowa will remain low around 4½% and Central Iowa will continue to be named as a top ranked community for business, industry and lifestyle.

View this data along with more real estate market statistics at SimplyDesMoines.com.

Les Sulgrove is a Broker Associate with Keller Williams Greater Des Moines and is a 24 year veteran selling real estate in Des Moines. He is a Past President of the Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS® and is involved on committees at the Iowa Association of REALTORS® and National Association of REALTORS®. Les can be reached at 515-202-8954 or SimplyDesMoines.com.