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Des Moines Real Estate Market in 2025: Stabilizing Rates and Increased Inventory Offer Renewed Hope for Buyers
By admin_leng | Published October 21, 2024
As we approach the end of 2024, the real estate market remains subject to constant change, much like the unpredictable weather. However, there’s some good news on the horizon. After a year of challenges, stabilizing interest rates offer a glimmer of hope for 2025. Although the market is still finding its balance, we’re beginning to see improvement, especially for buyers who have been hesitant due to higher rates and limited inventory. The Des Moines real estate market is showing signs of stabilization, yet hurdles still exist. Inventory is steadily increasing, providing more options for buyers, though a significant portion is dominated by new construction. Slowly but surely, resale homes are making their way back to the market, offering […]
The Olympic Challenge: Navigating the Real Estate Market in 2024
By admin_leng | Published July 26, 2024
As the world gears up for the Olympics, an event that epitomizes endurance, strategy, and adaptability, we recognize similar themes playing out in the real estate market today. Much like athletes training to anticipate and conquer obstacles, players in the real estate industry — builders, developers, bankers, and industry leaders — must stay astute and agile to thrive in a constantly evolving landscape. Trends and Indicators The real estate market is more than just properties bought and sold; it’s a barometer of economic health, measuring consumer confidence, financial stability, and technological innovations. This blog aims to provide a comprehensive view of the current real estate market, with a focus on both national trends and our local scene. In today’s market, […]
2024: Navigating the Real Estate Party – Should You Arrive Early or Fashionably Late?
By admin_leng | Published March 04, 2024
As quarter one of 2024 comes to an end, one may think to themselves, “How am I able to successfully navigate this year, this party that is to be 2024? Should I come early and be the first person there? Do I show up fashionably late and miss the beginning?”. Maximizing opportunity, both in fun and in business, is what it is all about! In the world of builders and developers, no one wants to miss out … ever. The overall feeling of 2024, thus far, is that uncertainty in the short term is overwhelming. The industry feels confident in what the long term housing market will bring; it is the short term that has us questioning ourselves. We need […]
Q4 2023: Goodbye Uncertainty, Hello Stability
By admin_leng | Published January 17, 2024
Say GOODBYE to the uncertainty that was 2023 and HELLO to the stability 2024 should bring! In the real estate industry, the fourth quarter months of 2023 ended with interest rates finally settling into a more predictable pattern. Housing market trends in 2023 were incredibly hard to predict – making planning very hard to do. As we close the door on yet another year, the environment feels as though things are shifting in our favor! Historically high interest rates of 2023 averted buyers. However, mortgage demand rose after interest rates lowered in the months of November and December. This end of year ease of interest rates and inflation should bring house hunters back in 2024. Baby boomers wanting to downsize […]
Market Rebalancing: A Look at Q3 2023 and What to Expect in Q4
By admin_leng | Published October 25, 2023
MARKET CLEANUP IS HAPPENING The third quarter of 2023 finished very much as predicted. The housing market continues to rebalance. Overall, 2023 has consistently shown us that supply, demand, buyers, sellers, mortgage rates (and builders themselves) are positioning themselves in a way that is sustainable in our current economy. As stated in our February blog, the market is cleaning itself up. Third quarter of this year trended on par with expectations. Q3 ended by showing total inventory available at just a slight increase, at a 2.8 month supply. ACTIVE INVENTORY Inventory movement on the market is creeping upward compared to the pandemic years. But total inventory remains significantly lower than 2017-2019 (the most recent “normal” years we have seen). Also, […]
Real Estate Market Rollercoaster: Navigating the Battle of Supply and Demand in Q2 2023
By admin_leng | Published July 18, 2023
The real estate market has always been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, with supply and demand dictating the pace. As we wrap up the second quarter of 2023, it’s time to take a closer look at the current state of the market, particularly in terms of single-family homes and new construction. We’ll explore the latest inventory numbers, pending sales, and the overall market trend. So, hold on tight as we delve into the battle of supply and demand in the real estate market. At the end of Q1 2023, the total inventory of single-family homes on the market stood at 1,457. As expected, this number has increased to 1,605 single-family homes in Q2 2023. This surge can be attributed […]
Q1 2023: THE MARKET REBALANCE IS UPON US
By admin_leng | Published February 28, 2023
We all knew it. The time would eventually come when the imaginary housing market reset button was pressed and the market itself rebalanced. It was bound to happen and we are now living through it. 2023 will be a clean up year. Supply, demand, buyers, sellers, mortgage rates, builders and more will strive to balance themselves in a way that is sustainable in our growing economy. Certain price points and communities have more supply than demand right now. 2023 will bring the clean up of new construction spec homes. A spec(ulative) home is one built on the idea it will easily sell for a profit. This might not be the case this year. Fundamentally, there are more new construction spec […]
2022: A YEAR OF UPS AND DOWNS
By admin_leng | Published January 20, 2023
We can all agree. The past few years have been crazy for our industry. 2022 started strong, but we could feel the market beginning to cool by the end of the second quarter; a feeling that continued into Q3 and Q4. Many, many factors have been driving the real estate ups and downs as of late. The loudest of which has been the fluctuation of interest rates. The volatile rate environment in the latter half of 2022 does seem to be stabilizing and industry optimists are hopeful buyers will return. The Federal Reserve may even be prepared to help, by slowing the uptick in interest rates as they see inflation numbers declining. Other promising factors are at play as well. […]
Change is in the air: Q3 2022 Housing Snapshot
By admin_leng | Published October 19, 2022
Change is in the air for buyers, sellers, builders, developers, lenders, and others in our industry! Everyone, everywhere is trying to adapt to a housing market that is very different from what we experienced just last quarter. The strong buyer pool we have experienced the last few years has cooled with higher interest rates. This does give our marketplace a chance to tie up loose ends, get new construction homes finished, and get back to the basics. “Realtors across the country confirm what the macroeconomic data says: the housing market is in a transition, driven by an uncertain economy and consumer backdrop. Inflation is hot and economic growth, as measured by the GDP reading, is tepid. But jobs remain plentiful […]
Q2 2022: Housing Snapshot
By admin_leng | Published July 15, 2022
At the start of 2022 (Q1), we talked about the feeling of knowing things were too good to be true. The feeling of the wind in your hair as you drive “fast” down the road, the feeling of knowing in your mind that everything could change with the smallest bend in the road. Well, the housing market (our industry!) might be close to that bend … we are teetering on the edge … the future most certainly holds change. The most startling point of the second quarter of 2022 is the lack of pending single family homes. Currently, there are 1,751 pending single family homes in the Des Moines metropolitan area. Just a year ago, there were one thousand more […]
