Late Summer Housing Market Shines In Des Moines Metro Area

September 11, 2024

As summer comes to a close with schools starting up, the Des Moines metro housing market welcomed a drop in mortgage rates, an increase in inventory, and a rise in pending sales with open arms. 

“Toward the end of the month, we saw mortgage rates start to drop,” Erika Hansen, DMAAR president, said, “This lead to more seller activity. Coupled with increasing inventory, this is the perfect time for home buyers and sellers to jump into the market as we head into fall.”

Home Sales Dip
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. 

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.

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 inAugust 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%.

Of the properties sold in July, 68.5% or 810 were financed conventionally. Cash purchases amounted to 16.2% of the properties sold, and 8.5% were financed with an FHA Loan.

Additional statistics and information about the Des Moines area housing market are available at the DMAAR Housing Stats web page.