Home Sales & Home Prices Coralville IA Spring 2021

It’s a Hot Market for this Cool Spring in Coralville

You’ve heard that the real estate market is hot, right? That goes for just about anywhere in the country. Mortgage rates are the lowest they’ve ever been. If you listen to the news, it appears buyers are lining up to buy homes. If you live in the Coralville area you might be asking yourself just how hot our real estate market in Coralville is. The first clue that there’s something in the  hype is the distinct lack of signs in yards in Coralville. And when there is a sign, it takes what seems like 10 seconds to pass before it’s got a sign rider with “accepted offer” or “pending sale” atop of it. We’re used to a hot market in Spring in the Greater Iowa City area, which of course includes Coralville. Our proximity to the UIOWA and UI Hospitals ensures that even in the down times we do okay. This year however is no normal year. It’s not just busy, it’s up at a whole new level that rarely comes around in our typically fairly stable market. 

Talk is cheap of course. You’ll want to see data to get a full idea of just how busy our real estate market is this Spring in Coralville. Below is a chart showing home sales in Coralville January through March 2021. 66 homes sold in 2021 compared to 52 in 2020. That’s an impressive 27% increase in home sales in Coralville in the first quarter. Made even more impressive by the fact that several weeks in the first quarter brought us record snow fall and low temps. Clearly it didn’t stop buyers on a mission! See below the chart for a summary of more data illustrating that 2021 got off with a bang this year. This is great news for sellers of course. Not so much for buyers, who are often caught in multiple offer situations, or worst still, the house is already under contract before they even see it. For that reason alone it’s worth looking for an agent to work with before looking at homes. Relying on Zillow for that new listing and then calling an agent won’t work, since they don’t publish data about houses under contract until the status changes to sale pending. 

Highlights: Homes Sold in Coralville 1st Quarter 2021

• Home Sales are up 27% compared to the 1st Quarter 2020: 66 homes sold January through March 2021 compared to 52 in the same timeframe in 2020. Even more notable is that this happened although there were fewer homes on the market in Coralville this year compared to 2020. Lower inventory and a brutally cold spell for many weeks during this 3 month period and Coralville still managed  a 27% increase in home sales. That’s proof right there that the Coralville Market is hopping this year!
• The contract to listing ratio is 58.5%. What this means is that there are significantly more homes Contingent or Sale Pending than there are listings currently Active and available for sale currently listed on the Iowa City MLS. Around 50% is already signs of a strong market. Coralville is fast approaching 60% and it’s only April! 
•  The absorption rate is unsurprisingly low at just over 2 months or to be precise, 64 days. The absorption rate, as the name implies, is how long it takes for the market to “absorb” homes. Considering how few  homes there are that are actually available and not under contract, it’s not an exaggeration to say homes are being “absorbed” quickly.  Again, unsurprisingly, we have another data point that shows that Coralville is enjoying a real estate market that’s particularly good for sellers. 
• Home Prices in Coralville are up 6% for the first quarter 2021 compared to 2020. All the leading market indicators show the same thing. Coralville is indeed enjoying high times in the current market.  In that regard, Coralville has the same challenges as many other markets too – Not nearly enough homes on the market for the many buyers who are waiting to buy their new home!

What’s the takeaway for you as a buyer or seller in today’s market in Coralville? It goes without saying at this point that Sellers are most definitely in the driver’s seat with homes quite literally flying off the shelves. The bigger challenge for sellers, at least those not moving out of town or out of state, is co-ordinating their sale with the purchase of their next home when they turn from sellers into buyers.  It’s not an easy market for buyers who need to move fast and have their game plan in place before writing an offer.  With this in mind, finding the right agent to work with has become more important than ever. The right agent will help you navigate the challenges and provide the advice and guidance you need to ensure you succeed in your goals in this hot market that we currently have in Coralville.

Data for this market report was pulled from the Iowa City MLS on April 14, 2021