Corridor, Iowa home prices rise, sales fall in November

The average sale price of a home in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Corridor rose in November, but the number of homes sold fell when compared with the same month in 2009.

The Cedar Rapids Area Association of Realtors said the average sale price of a home was $132,000 in November, compared with $129,500 in November 2009. The number of homes sold fell 37.7 percent from 419 in November 2009 to 261 last month.

At the southern end of the Corridor, the Iowa City Area Association of Realtors said the average sale price of a home in Coralville and Iowa City was $178,057 last month, up 3.94 percent from $171,041 in November 2009. The number of homes sold slid 28.86 percent to 116 in November from 201 in the same month last year.

Statewide, the Iowa Association of Realtors reported that the average price of a home increased by 2.8 percent from $137,454 in November 2009 to $141,342 last month. The number of homes sold across the state fell 33.2 percent from 3,054 in November 2009 to 2,039 last month.

“It appears that buyers' concern about the economy and job security continues to influence home sales,” said Kurt Schade, president of the Iowa Association of Realtors in Des Moines. “However, Realtors reported increases in calls and activities since the election. We believe sales activity will eventually follow after the holidays.”

Schade said buyers who have been waiting for the best deal may want to take action soon as interest rates are starting to inch up and prices are stabilizing.

Twenty-two of Iowa's 44 local boards of Realtors reported increases in the average sale price of homes from last November. In addition, eight boards reported increases in the number of sales and 16 boards reported declines in the number of days on the market compared to last year.

The National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that sales in the far larger market for previously owned homes rose to an annual rate of 4.68 million units in November. Still economists expect 2010 will finish as the worst year that market since 1997.

It could be two years or more, economists say, for enough buyers to return to bring sales of previously occupied homes back to the more healthy level of 6 million in sales annually.

One major problem facing the entire housing market is the record number of foreclosed properties. Economists say a large “shadow inventory' of such homes is waiting to come on the market as banks continue to clear out a huge backlog of properties they are in the process of taking back.