Iowa home sales fall, prices rise

Fewer homes were sold last month in Iowa than in the same month of 2013, but the average sale price rose, according to the Iowa Association of Realtors.

A total of 2,601 homes were sold in November, down 10.7 percent from 2,914 homes sold in November 2013. Days on market remained steady at 82 days, dipping slightly from 83 days in November 2013.

The average sale price of an Iowa home rose 4.1 percent from $153,142 in November 2013 to $159,368 last month. The median sale price increased 4.7 percent from $129,925 in November 2013 to $136,000 in November 2014.

'The state has seen a small drop in sales in November, which could be a number of things that factored into that. A highly contested midterm election, holiday season approaching and colder than usual November all played into that,” said Jon Yocum, president of the Iowa Association of Realtors.

'Home prices increased and we still have a low inventory of houses available on the market. The interest rates are very low, making homeownership an even better value at this time.”