My last market report covered home sales in Iowa City for the last decade, (2003 – 2010 to be precise. That’s how far back the Iowa City MLS goes). Today I’m going to drill it down a bit and compare data for home sales and average prices for homes sold in Iowa City comparing 2010 to 2009.
785 homes sold in Iowa City from January to December 2010 compared to 880 homes sold in the same time frame in 2009. That’s a drop of 12%. Looking at the chart it’s single family homes that have taken a hit. The rest of the market is pretty stable. In fact condo sales rose in 2010. The data is kind of mixed and I still don’t have a crystal ball so I’ll just go out on a limb here and say I think it’s possible the tide is turning and the Iowa City real estate market is starting to find its feet. It’s January 4th and after a very quiet couple of months my phone is ringing again! The economy is improving, interest rates are still low and there are great deals to be had on homes. Why wouldn’t buyers start feeling more confident and ready to take advantage of this great set of circumstances? It had to happen sometime. I have a feeling it might be now.
Interestingly the average price shows a similar trend as home sales in Iowa City as you can see in my next chart. The average price of single family homes is down, (although not as much as you might expect), while condo prices are holding steady, with the average price for zero lots even rising in 2010.
Source for data: Iowa City Area MLS. Updated January 22, 2011
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