You’ve heard this before when it comes to real estate: Location, Location, Location! Why is Location so important? Two reasons: you can’t change it, and it matters to potential buyers. Read this for some background on why location is absolutely vital when looking to buy, or determining how to sell, a home.
If you’ve been following me, you’ve probably seen past analyses on how the market is doing (click here for the analysis from the first half of 2018). However, the housing market overall in Des Moines is a combination of many specific market segments (down to the price, area, or even neighborhood). Based on where the home is, you may see significant differences in how long a home is on the market before it goes under contract (or has an accepted offer).
Let’s dig a little deeper. I’ve segmented up the overall Des Moines market by area and split it even further by new construction vs. resales. In general, new construction homes are on the market longer than resales, as they are listed long before they’re ready for a buyer to move in, and builders will often list several homes at a time in the same area. Overall, here are the average days on market for each area for homes sold from January 1, 2018 through August 31, 2018.
Des Moines Housing Sales 2018
To show the average days on market for resales, let’s look at the data another way:
You’ll see that the average days on market for resales can vary widely from area to area, ranging from 16 days (Windsor Heights) to 70 days (Downtown). This variance can be due to one or more of these factors:
- Proximity to employers, schools, etc.
- Average price point
- Types of homes available (condominiums vs. single family homes, for instance)
- Whether the area is growing
- How much housing inventory is available in each area
What Does This Mean?
As I’ve said before, real estate markets are highly segmented. If you’re looking to sell your home, you will want to work with an agent who will review your specific market segment and provide statistics to help you price your home and set expectations. The state of your specific market segment depends heavily on your neighborhood (not even your town), the size of your house and the houses around you, and the condition of your home. If you’re looking to buy a new home, you will want to keep in mind the market segment around you, so you don’t pay too much, and you keep future resale possibilities in mind.
If you are considering making a move, contact me, and we can discuss your situation in more detail, so you can either get the most money for selling your house or buy a new house for the right price (or both)!
* This data includes all residential properties in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors (DMAAR). For Sale By Owner homes may not be included. All numbers are accurate as of Sept-1-2018.
