Spring Housing in Iowa Continues to Bloom for the Des Moines Metro

June 11, 2025

As Spring begins to hit its stride, so too has the Des Moines area housing market. Metrics tracked by the Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS® showed resilience and growth in May, pointing to a typically plentiful summer market to come. 

Inventory of available homes increased from 3,279 to 3,944 units; a 20.2% increase compared to May of last year. Compared to April the number of available homes increased 3.4% in May, adding 131 more properties for sale. 

Total home sales also increased in May, jumping from 1,371 to 1,403, a 2.3% increase compared to May 2024. The increase was more significant month-to-month, jumping 20.8% from the 1,161 homes sold in April. 

Perhaps one of the most telling metrics for the upcoming summer market, as tracked by Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS®, rests in pending sales. In May, pending home sales experienced a 9.4% increase year-over-year, jumping from 1,322 in May 2024 to 1,447 this year. When compared to April,there were only seven fewer pending sales, creating a relatively small percentage decrease of 0.48%.

The median sales price of homes remained relatively flat, increasing just $500 - or 0.16% - from last year to $300,000 in May. However, monthly, the increase was more pronounced, showcasing the demand of the upcoming summer market: the median price climbed $3,500 from the $296,500 median price of April. 

A telling sign of the increase in any housing market is the combination of inventory and the total days on market. For the Des Moines metro area, the days on market stayed the same at 61 days. When compared to last month, the number of days on market decreased from the 66 days on market in April.

Of the total home sales in May, 994 homes were financed conventionally, a total of 70%. Interestingly, cash financing increased, and accounted for 219 homes of the 1,403 sales, or 16%. National Association of REALTORS® reports baby boomers are the largest group of homebuyers and sellers, as well as the group most likely to purchase with cash due to downsizing and moving into more “quiet” areas. 

While conventional and cash financing dominated most home sales, FHA loans continued to make up a slice of all transactions in May. FHA loans were 7.5% of the 1,403 transactions in May.

Compared to last month, FHA loans increased by an additional four transactions for a total of 106. Though the figure is modest, keep in mind that that’s 106 more families that are now able to have a home and begin their journey to creating generational wealth, and having a home they can call theirs.

Quick Facts:

  • Per NAR’s data, a single home sale (existing or new), produces roughly $83,000 in total economic impact for the state. 

  • The first 30 days are still the most active, as nearly 60% of homes are sold within that time frame - 839 homes sold within the first 30 days of their listing in May. 

  • Unsurprisingly, the most actively sold home was one with 3 to 4 bedrooms, and made up for the most of the active and pending listings between $260K to $799,999K.

  • Homes with 2 to 3 bedrooms or fewer made up the bulk of homes under $259,000.