Des Moines Home Values Officially On The Rise
A thorough analysis of home sales from January 1st to mid August of this year show that the overall value of a home sold in the Des Moines MLS has risen by 6.2% compared to the same time period last year. The struggle is to determine if values have risen due to the low cost of borrowing money, or if there was an actual increase in value from the previous year. Since home mortgage rates have been fairly consistent over the past 24 months and buyers are buying approximately the same size home, it is possible to determine that there has been a raise in property values.
After I completed my analysis, I split the data into single-family residential and condo/townhome categories and then divided each of those property types into resale homes and new construction. The results showed some interesting findings. While single family homes overall showed an increase of 5.7%, resale properties appreciated at 6.6% while new construction only saw a rise of 3.8%. Condo/townhome sales showed an overall appreciation rate of only 1.3%. Condo/townhome resale properties were actually down in value overall by 1.4% while new construction saw a positive increase of 2.6%.
All Real Estate Is Local – How Did Specific Communities Fare?
The strongest community would be one that showed increases of value in both resale and new construction segments of their market. Two communities that continue to out perform the rest of the metro are Ankeny and Waukee. Both of these cities are seeing a healthy increase in values of both resale and new construction so far in 2015. Ankeny saw increases in resale by 7.1% and 8.8% new construction. Waukee came in at 5.5% & 9.0%
The city of Des Moines is seeing the largest increase in values of resale properties at 11.4% but is showing a decrease in values in new construction by -2.6%. Coming in second is West Des Moines with an 8.4% increase in resale but also seeing a decrease in new construction values of -4.7%. I attribute the declines in new construction values in theses two areas due to builders seeing a lack of resale inventory in these communities and offering new construction at a price point closer to resale homes. Lastly, the city of Clive shows a decrease in resale values but a double-digit increase in new construction values.
|
Single-Family Homes |
||
| Resale | New Construction | |
| Community | Value Change | Value Change |
| Des Moines | 11.4% | -2.6% |
| Altoona | 1.9% | 0.8% |
| Ankeny | 7.1% | 8.8% |
| Clive | -4.1% | 13.6% |
| Urbandale | 4.9% | 3.4% |
| Waukee | 5.5% | 9.0% |
| West Des Moines | 8.4% |
-4.7% |
A Word Of Caution
When making “overall” comparisons, many people hear a number and simply apply it to their own property. Because each property is unique, this number may not be accurate for your situation. I’m often asked to produce market statistics for specific properties. I take into account the style of the home; it’s age, condition, location, etc. This is what is known as a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). Short of an appraisal, a CMA is your best measurement of your homes current market value.
If you are interested in selling your home or purchasing a home, give me a call! I will help you determine your best strategy based on your local market data.
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