Watch market update here!

The number of homes on the market in the Des Moines metro area increased 10% from homes on the market last month and a 29% increase from homes on the market last year. May had 2651 listed homes compared to April’s 2410 homes and May 2022 had 2049 listed homes.

Home sales, or homes that closed in May, increased 28.5% with 1,270 homes sold in May compared to the 988 sold in April. Year over year May’s sales declined by 12.6% when compared to the 1,453 homes sold in May 2022.

Pending sales saw a minimal decline in both the monthly and yearly stats. With 1,394 pending sales in May, this was a 6.9% decrease from the 1,498 pending sales of April and an 11.2% decrease from the pending sales recorded in May 2022.

May’s median sale price was $289,000 which is a 5.4% increase from last month’s median price of $274,000. The year-over-year increase in median price was nearly identical at 5.1% with May 2022 coming in at $275,000. Last month, homes averaged 51 days on the market, an increase of four days from April, and an increase from the 20 days homes averaged on the market in May 2022.

I thought it would be interesting to break down the data a bit further and here is what I found….of the total of homes sold in May the majority of them were 3 bedroom properties priced between $300,000 and $349,900. The majority of the pending properties were also in that same price range. The active listings however were a bit higher in the $350,000-$399,900 price range.

And another fun fact regarding the days on market for the 1270 homes sold in May is that there were 869 homes sold within 30 days. The next highest number was 125 homes sold in the 366 days or more (this is most likely the new construction homes which get listed for sale even before the home is built). So, you can see the majority of homes sold were UNDER the average of 51 days. When you drill down into the data a bit further you can see the average numbers don’t necessarily tell you the whole story.

This is what is great about local real estate news. Realtors can break down every single stat to evaluate what is really going on in our local market versus what is being shared about the market on the national level.

Here's my take on the local market this month. The real estate market has loosened up a bit since the beginning of the year. Even with higher interest rates than last year, we still have 28.5% more pending sales than last month! AND the 10% increase in inventory from last month shows sellers are feeling more confident about selling their homes. And they should! Because since the beginning of the year, our home prices have increased from $255,000 in January 2023 to May’s $289,000. Pending sales are up 26% from January, active listings are up 7% and home sales are up 113%!!

So those of you who may be on the fence wondering if NOW is a good time to sell your home, you don’t have to listen to me! Look at the stats!