This is my most commonly asked question. The answer is almost always, it depends. Here are some basic numbers. As of this writing, there are 3,976 houses for sale in the Des Moines Multiple Listing Service (MLS). In the past month 2,608 houses have either gone under contract or closed. That means, if numbers stayed constant, and no other houses were added to the market, 65% of the houses now available would be sold or under contract one month from now.
Then, you need to take into account, that on average, those 3,976 houses have been on the market for 92 days. So, it is taking more than three months for the average house to sell.
There is one more number to take into account for this analysis, though. Those 2,608 houses, they sold, on average, in 54 days.
What do all these numbers mean? It means there are a good chunk of houses on the market where the sellers are just sitting on their price, and hoping a buyer is willing to pay it. Because, if the average is 92 days on market, half of the houses have been on the market longer. Now, new construction absolutely skews these numbers. A lot of new construction homes get put on the market before the first shovel of dirt has been dug. They will say they have been on the market for 200 days, even though the house was only finished last week.
In fact, of those 3,976 active houses, 1,397 were built in 2023 or later. Their average days on market is at 139. So you can see what I am talking about. All the rest of the housing stock? They have an average days on market of 66. That is still over two months to get the average house sold.
All this is to say, you need someone on your team who understands the numbers. Someone who can look at your micro-market and see how aggressive you need to be within your own neighborhood, let alone city.
Most importantly, you need someone who is willing to tell you all this. Either you are pricing to compete in the market, or you are are hoping to sell. Which strategy sounds better to you?
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 515.724.3163 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.
~Ryan Lynch
