As summer comes to a close and the great Iowa State Fair is over and schools started their year, the Des Moines metro housing market felt a slight pause in market activity month over month. Inventory increased, days on market increased, as home sales, pending sales, and median sale price decreased. The only decrease celebrated was a drop in mortgage rates!

Active listings had a jump in August with 3,688 homes, a 5.01% increase compared to July’s 3,512 homes listed. The jump was more significant year-over-year, increasing by 20.44% from the 3,062 homes listed at the same time in 2023.

August home sales were down 8.16% this month with 1,182 homes sold compared to July’s 1,287 homes sold. Year-over-year, August sales decreased 10.04% compared to the previous year’s 1,314 homes sold.

Pending sales in August saw a slight dip of 2.27% with 1,161 contracts written compared to last month’s 1,188 contracts written. Last year’s pending sales were higher by one home with 1,162 contracts written.

Median sale price in the Des Moines metro area fell 2.67% in August, bringing the new median sale price to $291,000 compared to July’s $299,000. The median sales price in August saw a 1.87% increase in price compared to median of $285,655 of last year.

Days on the market jumped 8.89% in August with 49 days, compared to the 45 recorded in July.  Last year, the number of days on market was listed at 38 days, resulting in a significant increase of 28.95%.