I keep having the same question raised: how is this real estate market here in Des Moines, IA?

I will tell you right now, it is weird. We are actually ahead of 2023, and have been (barely) all year. Year to date through May 25th, 4634 houses have sold. The same time last year, 4619 houses sold. However, we are nowhere near the heights of previous years. For reference, in 2022 we sold 5934 houses at this time. So we are not in the raging market of previous years, and we are not doing terrible.

What is really happening is rates are affecting both sides of the transaction. Many sellers are looking at their near 3% interest rate and wondering why they would ever sell. While most buyers are looking at current rates and being more picky because their mortgage is more expensive.

In short, are houses still selling? Absolutely. Has the process gotten trickier? Also, yes.

I have actually talked a few people out of selling this year based off the information I gave them. I am sad to lose the deal. I am in this for the long run though, and so being straight with people is the way I am choosing to go.

If you are looking to buy or sell, I want to help. I will give you all the information I can and help you to decide what works best for you. Give me a call.

As always, I love doing what I do. I love looking at the market, and I love building relationships with the people I get to help. Let me know how I can help you. Call me today. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.

~Ryan Lynch

I am just reaching out to let you know I was on a podcast recently. I got to talk about being a Realtor, what I am doing with HowToBeHappier.blog, and some talks about AI and a few quick questions as well. This was super fun, only lasts about 25 minutes, and I thought it would be nice to share. Here are the links:

• Spotify
• YouTube

I hope you enjoy. Let me know if you need anything at all. Have a great day!

As always, I love doing what I do. I love looking at the market, and I love building relationships with the people I get to help. Let me know how I can help you. Call me today. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.

~Ryan Lynch

Here is an update on what is going on in the Des Moines Real Estate Market:

Sales are up year over year from 2023. February of this year we had 793 homes listed. This is the best start we have seen for the year since 2021. Also, in the month of February 1,060 houses went under contract. So houses are selling faster than they are being listed. And the interesting thing is that March and April are typically more than double the numbers of February in previous years.

People keep asking me where interest rates are going, and my honest answer is I do not know. However, I want to point out that buyers don’t seem to be caring. Sure, I know plenty of people that are holding back with the hopes that interest rates are going to come down. There are still many, many buyers out there looking for homes. It turns out, when you want to buy a home, you just want to buy a home and you deal with the interest rate you have.

What does all this mean? It means if you are looking to buy or sell a house in 2024, I can help. If you are listing, you need to know where to price to take advantage of the coming Spring real estate market. People are being more picky, and so positioning matters. It also means if you are looking to buy, there is plenty of competition out there. I am here to help. Please reach out.

As always, I love doing what I do. I love looking at the market, and I love building relationships with the people I get to help. Let me know how I can help you. Call me today. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.

~Ryan Lynch

The real estate market right now is quite insane.

Interest rates have more than doubled and there are still so many buyers.

Sellers are sitting on their 3% mortgages, so there is still very little inventory.

And everyone is getting a bit tighter in their wants and needs.

All this makes for an everybody market. Sellers are still strong, because they have no competition. Buyers are being more picky, because their money buys less than it used to. And that makes offers, negotiations, and simply getting to the finish line far more interesting.

I am so happy when people choose me to work for them. And I am really good at this. If you are thinking about getting into the market as a seller or buyer, let me know. I can give you advice, and make the process much less nerve racking for you. Just let me know.

As always, I love doing what I do. I love looking at the market, and I love building relationships with the people I get to help. Let me know how I can help you. Call me today. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.

~Ryan Lynch

Well, we are in a very interesting space. There are not a lot of sellers out there currently. The main reason for this being interest rates. Many home owners have a ridiculously, historically low interest rate. And without a very good reason, they are not wanting to trade for a higher interest rate mortgage.

However, buyers are still out in droves. Which means low supply and high demand. This leads to prices increasing.

Now, here is the fun part. When interest rates do start to finally go down, that will increase demand. That means home prices are at the lowest they are ever going to be now.

So, if you are wanting to buy a house. They are the cheapest they will ever be right now. They are only going to go up in price. If you are looking to sell, there is so much demand out there. My last several listings have all sold within their first week on the market.

Too Long, Didn’t Read: If you want to buy a house, they will never be cheaper than they are right now. If you want to sell a house, there is so much pent up demand for them. Get a Realtor. I know a good one who loves to serve. Call me.

As always, I love doing what I do. I love looking at the market, and I love building relationships with the people I get to help. Let me know how I can help you. Call me today. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.

~Ryan Lynch

So some interesting things have gone on in the market. Let me see if I can explain what’s happening to you.

The most interesting thing that has happened is that interest rates seem to have affected sellers instead of buyers. Allow me to explain. My typical business is around 75% listings and 25% buyers. That has actually just about flipped in 2023.

Right now I have a huge list of buyers looking for a property to purchase. What I don’t have is listings. I believe the reason for this is interest rates. If you owned a home in the last five years, whether you just bought or you have owned for a while and refinanced, you have a ridiculously low interest rate. Now when you look out at the market, you see completely normal interest rates like 6-7% that are twice as high as the rate you have on your mortgage right now.

So, people aren’t selling.

What this means is that even though interest rates are back to normal, that is all they are: normal. There are still a ton of buyers out there wanting to buy with normal interest rates. However, all the people who could sell are sitting on their mortgages remembering how they got so lucky to have such an incredible interest rate.

So, it is still a seller’s market. There are still a ton of buyers, and not that many sellers. If you are looking to sell, use a realtor and get that money. If you are looking to buy, get that realtor or good luck.

As always, I love doing what I do. I love looking at the market, and I love building relationships with the people I get to help. Let me know how I can help you. Call me today. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.

~Ryan Lynch