Des Moines Real Estate Roundup

Week Ending July 25th, 2008

 

Total Number of Homes For Sale in the Des Moines Metropolitan Area – 5,793

New Listings Taken During the Last 7 Days – 266

Accepted Offers (Pendings) During the Last 7 Days – 129

Homes Closed (Solds) During the Last Days – 130

Average Sale Price of Solds – $174,986

Average Days On Market of Solds – 87

 

 

If you have specific questions about real estate for sale
in the Des Moines area, please feel free to contact me by Clicking Here. 

Les Sulgrove, RE/MAX Real Estate Group

Information on this blog posting is for informational purposes only
and not intended as solicitation if you are already working with a REALTOR®.
There is no obligation or fee for any information on this blog posting.   

Data Source: Les Sulgrove, RE/MAX Real Estate Group 
Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS® MLS.
Des Moines Metropolitan Area defined as: Adel, Altoona,
Ankeny, Bondurant, Carlisle, Clive, Des Moines, Dallas Center,
Desoto, Granger, Grimes, Indianola, Johnston, Norwalk,
Pleasant Hill, Polk City, Urbandale, Van Meter ,Waukee,
West Des Moines, Windsor Heights, Winterset

Des Moines Weekly Real Estate Statistics 7/18/08

Summertime heat.  Summertime Thunderstorms.  We seem to be in that cycle of HOT daytime temperatures followed by evening thunderstorms.  The real estate market is also showing signs of heating up.  We are in our third week in a row with Active listing counts below the 4,000 level. 

In the next couple weeks, I’m going to be changing the statistics that I post to more accurately reflect the state of the market.  The focus will be on offers written and accepted each week.  In the meantime, here are this weeks stats!

 

Real Estate Statistics for the week ending Friday, July 18th, 2008 for Des Moines, Iowa and surrounding communities.

Single Family Homes
3,949 Homes Currently For Sale – Down 22 from last week.
$226,281 Average List Price

1,036 Homes Pending - Up 16 from last week.

(Offers Accepted But Not Closed Yet)
$199,094 Average List Price
78 Average Days On Market

85 Homes Closed - Up 42 from last week.
$170,213 Average Sale Price
71 Average Days On Market

Acreages
189 Homes Currently For Sale – Down 4 from last week.
$334,733 Average List Price

43 Homes Pending - Up 3 from last week
(Offers Accepted But Not Closed Yet)
$299,179 Average List Price 
61 Average Days On Market

1 Home Closed - Up 3 from last week.
$290,000 Average Sale Price
117 Average Days On Market  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Condos & Townhomes
1,659 Homes Currently For Sale - Down 44 from last week.
$187,909 Average List Price

292 Homes Pending - Down 9 from last week.
(Offers Accepted But Not Closed Yet)
$168,386 Average List Price 
121 Average Days On Market

29 Homes Closed - Up 13 from last week.
$169,772 Average Sale Price
170 Average Days On Market

If you have specific questions about real estate for sales in the Des Moines area, please feel free to contact me by Clicking Here. 
Les Sulgrove, RE/MAX Real Estate Group
Information on this blog posting is for informational purposes only and not intended as solicitation if you are already working with a REALTOR®  There is no obligation or fee for any information on this blog posting.

Data Source: Les Sulgrove, RE/MAX Real Estate Group – Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS® MLS.
Des Moines Metropolitan Area defined as: Adel, Altoona, Ankeny, Bondurant, Carlisle, Clive, Des Moines, Dallas Center, Desoto, Granger, Grimes, Indianola, Johnston, Norwalk, Pleasant Hill, Polk City, Urbandale, Van Meter ,Waukee, West Des Moines, Windsor Heights, Winterset

Des Moines Weekly Real Estate Statistics 7/11/08

 

 

When I was a young boy, I remembered summer as being very hot.  I would step outside of my air conditioned home and just stand out in the sunshine.  After a couple of minutes I could feel the rays of the sun begin to burn my skin.  I didn’t care… after all, this is what Summer is all about!  This weeks photo comes from the Des Moines Farmers Market.  Fruits & vegetables are in full supply, so if you need some fresh cherry tomatoes, you’d better arrive early!

Real Estate Statistics for the week ending Friday, July 11th, 2008 for Des Moines, Iowa and surrounding communities.

Single Family Homes
3,971 Homes Currently For Sale - Down 17 from last week.
$227,660 Average List Price

1,020 Homes Pending - Down 30 from last week.

(Offers Accepted But Not Closed Yet)
$197,771 Average List Price
78 Average Days On Market

43 Homes Closed - Down 75 from last week.
$169,048 Average Sale Price
72 Average Days On Market

Acreages
185 Homes Currently For Sale - Down 9 from last week.
$332,353 Average List Price

40 Homes Pending - No Change from last week
(Offers Accepted But Not Closed Yet)
$300,835 Average List Price 
63 Average Days On Market

4 Homes Closed - Down 1 from last week.
$176,688 Average Sale Price
183 Average Days On Market 

Condos & Townhomes
1,703 Homes Currently For Sale - Up 12 from last week.
$192,159 Average List Price

301 Homes Pending - Up 8 from last week.
(Offers Accepted But Not Closed Yet)
$168,918 Average List Price 
131 Average Days On Market

19 Homes Closed - Down 19 from last week.
$127,115 Average Sale Price
41 Average Days On Market

If you have specific questions about real estate for sales in the Des Moines area, please feel free to contact me by Clicking Here. 
Les Sulgrove, RE/MAX Real Estate Group
Information on this blog posting is for informational purposes only and not intended as solicitation if you are already working with a REALTOR®  There is no obligation or fee for any information on this blog posting.

Data Source: Les Sulgrove, RE/MAX Real Estate Group – Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS® MLS.
Des Moines Metropolitan Area defined as: Adel, Altoona, Ankeny, Bondurant, Carlisle, Clive, Des Moines, Dallas Center, Desoto, Granger, Grimes, Indianola, Johnston, Norwalk, Pleasant Hill, Polk City, Urbandale, Van Meter ,Waukee, West Des Moines, Windsor Heights, Winterset

Sell Us A Home, Please!

This is a story about Brad & Mandy*.

Brad and Mandy were “Internet buyer leads”. 

One of my daily duties as IT Manager is distributing internet leads that are unassigned.  Most agents in my office are great about leads.  They know that in this market, any buyer or seller lead is very valuable. 

Brad and Mandy were assigned to an agent.  She made the phone call to them and immediately sent them listings by email that matched their request.  This agent took time to pre-qualify them over the phone and arranged to show them homes the following day.  After and afternoon of showings followed by a couple hours the next day, Brad & Mandy made an offer to purchase one of the homes they saw.  SUCCESS!

Let’s do some of the math.  The agent has spent a total of approximately 8 hours with Brad & Mandy.  The offer they wrote resulted in a commission of around $4,400, or an hourly rate of $550 per hour.  Yes, that is very rare that a buyer makes a buying decision so quickly and there are countless hours yet to come before the buyers close on the property.  With inspections and everything the agents work is definately not finished.  But isn’t this a great story!!!! 

Well, Paul Harvey say’s “… and now, the rest of the story”. 

You see, Brad & Mandy were offered to another agent in my office about 2 weeks ago.  This was their first contact with our company.  This lead appeared to be a pretty good one.  They provided their name, email address and phone number.  They requested information on a couple of properties.  I forwarded the email to the agent on floor duty. 

Two days later, another email from this couple arrived in the IT dept email account.  They stated that they talked to an agent in our office a couple of days earlier and was supposed to be receiving an email with properties but they never heard from the agent.  IN THIS MARKET… THEY NEVER HEARD BACK FROM THE AGENT. 

I emailed the agent that I assigned the lead to and she replied back to me that she had talked to the buyer but had never heard back from them.  And then she made the unbelievable comment that she was “going to pass on this lead and that I could give it to the next person in line.”

Brad & Mandy were fortunate.  But so were we as a company.  They ended up finding a home that met their needs and are looking forward to relocating to Des Moines.  We were fortunate that they didn’t move on to the next company.  The agent that sold them a home was not fortunate.  She was a professional.  She did what she was supposed to do.  

There are many agents that take an internet lead and simply send an email back without ever following up again.  Then they wonder why they never close any transactions from these leads. 

There will be agents this year that get out of the business.  I suspect that these are the agents that will be complaining that there is no business.  And for them, they are correct.

*Brad & Mandy are not the buyers real names.

4th of July Fireworks

View the best of my 4th of July Fireworks by Clicking Here

~ Les Sulgrove

Des Moines Weekly Real Estate Statistics 7/4/08

It’s official… the 2008 is now 1/2 over.  With the 4th of July comes fireworks, family reunions and summer vacations.  This weeks photo was taken across the street from Wakonda Golf Course on the south side of Des Moines.  I liked this one because it reminds me of a carrot.This week marked the first time since I started this blog that Active residential listings dropped below 4,000.  Perhaps it is because of the holiday weekend, but fewer homes on the market is a good sign of a strengthening real estate market.

Real Estate Statistics for the week ending Friday, July 4th, 2008 for Des Moines, Iowa and surrounding communities.

Single Family Homes
3,954 Homes Currently For Sale – Down 79 from last week.
$227,819 Average List Price

1,050 Homes Pending - Down 36 from last week.

(Offers Accepted But Not Closed Yet)
$198,032 Average List Price
79 Average Days On Market

118 Homes Closed - Up 16 from last week.
$178,495 Average Sale Price
86 Average Days On Market

Acreages
194 Homes Currently For Sale - Up 3 from last week.
$327,210 Average List Price

40 Homes Pending - Down 3 from last week
(Offers Accepted But Not Closed Yet)
$278,340 Average List Price 
65 Average Days On Market

5 Homes Closed - Up 3 from last week.
$249,480 Average Sale Price
134 Average Days On Market

Condos & Townhomes
1,691 Homes Currently For Sale - Down 39 from last week.
$191,924 Average List Price

293 Homes Pending - Down 8 from last week.
(Offers Accepted But Not Closed Yet)
$165,385 Average List Price 
131 Average Days On Market

25 Homes Closed - Up 6 from last week.
$162,220 Average Sale Price
91 Average Days On Market

If you have specific questions about real estate for sales in the Des Moines area, please feel free to contact me by Clicking Here. 
Les Sulgrove, RE/MAX Real Estate Group
Information on this blog posting is for informational purposes only and not intended as solicitation if you are already working with a REALTOR®  There is no obligation or fee for any information on this blog posting.

Data Source: Les Sulgrove, RE/MAX Real Estate Group – Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS® MLS.
Des Moines Metropolitan Area defined as: Adel, Altoona, Ankeny, Bondurant, Carlisle, Clive, Des Moines, Dallas Center, Desoto, Granger, Grimes, Indianola, Johnston, Norwalk, Pleasant Hill, Polk City, Urbandale, Van Meter ,Waukee, West Des Moines, Windsor Heights, Winterset