2016 was one heck of a year for real estate in the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors. The latest number that I have seen is that 13,951 deals closed. There is a good chance that there are at least 50 more working their way through and we broke 14,000 deals. That is a huge number for our area. 2017 started with less than 3,000 houses for sale (2,977 to be exact as of January 1st). In our local market, only two months were not a Seller’s Market. Meaning there was less inventory than there was demand for that inventory. And both of those months were a balanced market.
The National Association of Realtors just put out a report on sales percentage change in several price ranges. In $100,000 to $250,000, there was 20.7% more sales in 2016 than in 2015. $250,000 to $500,000 went up 35.4% over 2015. $500,000 to $750,000 sold 31.9% more units than 2015. $750,000 to $1,000,000 sold 43.2$ more than 2015. And over $1,000,000 sold 33.9% more than 2015. Then only range that went down was $0-$100,000 which went down 2.4%. And that is primarily because that price range is shrinking with average house prices going up.
So what does this mean if you are thinking about buying or selling a home? If you are thinking about selling, it means that prices are continuing to rise at a record pace, and right now you have less competition than at any point in the year historically. So get your house on the market with a professional who can take full advantage of that fact. If you are a buyer, interest rates are still historically low, and you still have a lot of competition, so hire a professional who can get you in fast and help you get the home that you want.
I am that professional. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. Reach out today!
~Ryan Lynch
