Cold Weather Put A Wrinkle Into The Homes Sold For January In The Des Moines Area Housing Market

February 14, 2024

The cold weather put a wrinkle into the homes sold for January in the Des Moines area housing market.  Days on Market increased due to that fact, but pendings sales are up and moving strongly as interest rates move slightly lower.

The first month of 2024 proved to bring a slight chill to the metro market with a number of very snowy days hindering prospective buyers and sellers from jumping in," Erika Hansen, DMAAR president, said. "Still, the extra snow days didn't translate to falling numbers in all metrics. Instead, we can see pending sales are blooming, bringing progress as we move forward."

Home Sales Slip 

The number of home sales in the Des Moines metro area dipped 21.46% in January with 677 homes sold compared to the 862 sold in December. Year-over-year, there was an increase, ticking upwards 13.59% from the 596 homes sold in January 2023. 

Pending sales proved to be a shining spot on the month, the 959 pending sales of January represented a noteworthy jump from 786 pending sales from the month prior. The metric decreased 13.13% compared to the 1,104 pending sales of January 2023.

The monthly and yearly perspectives reveal a varied picture of active listings in the metro area. January saw 2,746 active listings, a 6.76% decrease from the previous month of 2,945 active listings. Compared to the 2,475 active listings of January 2023, the new listings were an increase of 10.95%.

January's median sale price of $270,000 decreased by a mere 1.80% from one month ago that recorded a $274,945 median sale price. The slight decrease could be attributed to the cold snowy weather that hit the metro. The figure still represents a large jump from the previous year, $255,000.

Last month, homes averaged 61 days on the market, up from the 51 days homes were on the market in December and up from last year’s 52 days on average.

Of the properties sold in January 411, or 60.71% were financed conventionally. Cash purchases amounted to 19.2% of the sold properties and 11.67% were financed with an FHA Loan.

Additional statistics and information about the Des Moines area housing market are available at the DMAAR Housing Stats web page.

The Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS® is a professional association that represents more than 2,700 REALTOR® members. The association consists of REALTORS® from the larger metro area, including but not limited to communities such as: Adel, Perry, Polk City, Newton, Knoxville, Indianola, Pella, Winterset. The mission of DMAAR is to be the voice of real estate in the Des Moines area.

The term REALTOR® is a registered trademark, which identifies real estate professionals who adhere to a strict Code of Ethics as members of the National Association of REALTORS®.