October Real Estate Market Statistics for the Des Moines Area

The Stats as of 10.31.12

• 4,351 Homes For Sale
• 971 New Listings In The Last 30 Days
• 1,423 Homes Currently Under Contract
• 723 Offers Accepted In The Last 30 Days
• $165,995 Avg. Sale Price
• 108 Days On Market Average

"We are currently at 7,717 in closed transactions for 2012, that is 1,214 ahead of last year. We definitely noticed some recovery in 2012 compared to the past few years. Sellers have a more positive outlook. Buyers are happy because of low interest rates," stated Rochelle Burnett, Realtor with Keller Williams Greater Des Moines.

Les Sulgrove, a Realtor and well known local stats guru, shares, "The Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS® MLS reports 5.4 Months of Inventory as of October 31st, 2012. This means that if no more homes are listed for sale in our market, at the current pace of sales, we would run out of homes to sell in 5.4 months. A balanced market is when we have 6 months of inventory. A seller's market also typically indicates a rise in home values."

Here's a snapshot of more local stats:

Ankeny/Month of October:
Current Inventory: 133
Pending Sales: 52
Closed Transactions:17
Average Sale Price: $113,902
Average Days on Market: 123
Months of Inventory: 2.6

Johnston/Month of October:
Current Inventory: 22
Pending Sales: 13
Closed Transactions: 8
Average Sale Price: $151,841
Average Days on Market: 161
Months of Inventory: 1.7

West Des Moines/Month of October:
Current Inventory: 152
Pending Sales: 69
Closed Transactions: 29
Average Sale Price: $148,993
Average Days on Market: 118
Months of Inventory: 2.2

Urbandale/Month of October:
Current Inventory: 69
Pending Sales: 32
Closed Transactions: 11
Average Sale Price: $138,350
Average Days on Market: 185
Months of Inventory: 2.2

So, if a balanced market is when we have 6 months of inventory, the market is looking good for these communities that are averaging only a few months of inventory. Reading these statistics, does it change your outlook on our market?