Home sales up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City

More single-family homes and condominiums were sold last month in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City than in February 2010, but fewer homes and condos were sold statewide.

The Cedar Rapids Board of Realtors data shows 198 homes and condos were sold in February, up from 183 in February 2010. The average sale price was $134,500 in February, off slightly from $135,900 in the same month last year.

Kevin Platz, executive director of the Cedar Rapids Board of Realtors, also noted that the 198 homes and condos sold in February was an improvement over the 183 sold in January.

Data from the Iowa City Area Association of Realtors shows 88 single-family homes and condominiums sold last month, up slightly from 85 in February 2010. The average sale price was $173,585 in February, up from $166,044 in February 2010.

Statewide, the number of homes and condominiums sold in February was down 3.3 percent from February 2010, according to the Iowa Association of Realtors. A total of 1,484 homes and condos were sold last month, down from 1,535 sold last February.

The average sale price statewide was $129,981 in February, off 0.2 percent from $130,278 in February 2010.

“Although sales are down slightly from last year at this time, overall sales in 2011 are just ahead of last year,” said Kurt Schade, president of the Iowa Association of Realtors. “Year-to-date sales are 2,911 for 2011, up from 2,836 in the first two months of 2010.”

Schade said some areas of the state, including Keokuk, Montgomery County, northeast Iowa and Mount Pleasant, reported substantial increases in sales last month.

“Real estate markets are completely local, so while we saw significant improvement in some parts of the state, others are still lagging behind,” he said. “We hope to see a balance in stability across the state soon. We expect activity statewide to pick up in the spring, as it typically does each year.”

Seventeen of Iowa's 44 local boards reported increases in the number of sales compared to last year at this time, while 29 boards had increases in year-to-date sales in 2011 when compared to 2010.

Sales of new and existing homes anc ondominiums fell nationwide in February, according to the National Association of Realtors. Existing home sales dropped 2.8 percent in February from the same month in 2010 and new home sales fell 28 percent last month when compared with February 2010.