Homes in Marion and Cedar Rapids sell more quickly than most other cities in Iowa, according to a list compiled by New York-based financial technology company SmartAsset.
Houses in Marion were on the market for an average of 78.2 days, falling just behind Storm Lake, at 67.5 days, for fewest average days on the market.
Cedar Rapids ranked sixth on the list, with homes in the city limits staying on the market for 84.2 days.
Those two cities posted shorter lengths of time than the statewide selling rate — an Iowa house is on the market for an average of 171.8 days.
Researchers analyzed five-year data collected by the census bureau’s 2014-18 American Community Survey and Zillow, an aggregate site for home sales listings.
SmartAsset is a New York financial technology company made up of journalists and financial analysts that use data to model financial decisions, such as homebuying.
“One reason that homes are moving quickly is lack of inventory and high demand,” Kevin Platz of the Cedar Rapids Realtors Association wrote in an email to The Gazette. The number of residential homes on the market in the Cedar Rapids area has steadily declined, according to Cedar Rapids Realtor Association data. In the first months of 2020, the number of active listings hovered close to 1,200, down from a peak of 2,015 active listings in June, 2015.
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Both in Cedar Rapids and Marion, house costs as a percent of income are higher than the statewide average, according to the SmartAsset analysis.
Homes in Cedar Rapids on average make up 18.6 percent of income, and in Marion that share is 17.5 percent.
Statewide, it’s lower — at 16.9 percent — according to the analysis.
Cities in Iowa with the fastest selling homes
• Storm Lake: 67.5 days on the market
• Marion: 78.2 days
• Pella: 80.6 days
• Asbury: 80.7 days
• Indianola: 84.1 days
• Cedar Rapids: 84.2 days
• Des Moines: 86.6 days
• Marshalltown: 90.6 days
• Boone: 90.9 days
• Waterloo: 91.5 days.
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