There’s some welcome news in today’s market for buyers and sellers ready to make the most of the summertime house hunting and homebuilding season. MORTGAGE RATES dropped since April, and are currently at the lowest levels we have seen for over 18 months. So the market is seeing some traction as more buyers are showing an interest in making offers, due to the improved affordability!
As of July 1, the total number of active single-family homes on the Des Moines Metro Market, including re-sales and new construction homes, had increased 5.9 percent to 2,370, compared with a year earlier.
When you single out the active inventory of new construction single-family homes, we actually saw a decrease from 853 a year ago to 816 today. Year-over-year, total pending sales of single-family homes in the Des Moines Metro were down, too, with 1,492 as of July 1, 2019, versus 1,585 in 2018.
This makes sense when we consider the total number of building permits pulled from January through May. Following years of steady growth, that figure also looks to be a bit behind, as it fell to 943 from 1,214 just a year earlier.
When taking into account all the factors, it may be that a particularly frigid winter and very rainy spring have made it difficult for builders to get started in the ground. Some builders and developers may had also been trying to assess whether they needed to pull back after seeing higher interest rates and some economic uncertainty in 2018.
As a builder, it is always interesting to see where voids may exist in terms of certain locations and price points. You can CLICK HERE TO VIEW MY FULL Q2 2019 HOUSING STATISTICS, including a breakdown of price ranges, months supply and what’s available in the 19 communities I track in the Des Moines Metro.
I was surprised to see that new construction homes in the $350,000 to $399,999 and $400,000 to $449,999 price ranges are currently in the shortest months supply. It may be a sign, however, of more builders adjusting to meet affordability needs at lower price points, resulting in fewer starts in the mid to higher price ranges. At any rate, there is some sense of forward momentum with the lower interest rates and we might just be playing a little catch up this quarter.
Thinking of selling? Now is a great time to get your house on the market as it’s heating up for summer 2019. Buyers looking to take advantage of very low interest rates may also be thinking of how this helps keep monthly payments lower.
Buyers, sellers or builders in search of more information on the availability of single-family lots in one-of-a-kind Central Iowa communities can always contact me directly for a one-on-one consultation at [email protected].
