Houses for Sale in Iowa are Becoming Rare, Stifling Sales

(Radio Iowa) From Iowa’s biggest cities to the smallest towns, the recently-red hot housing market is cooling off considerably as the heat of summer arrives. Julie Hurt, a realtor with Century 21 Pro Link in Le Mars, says that community of ten-thousand residents has remarkably few homes for sale.

“We have eight active listings right now and we’ve kind of been fluctuating,” Hurt says. “It’ll get up to as many as maybe 15 or 16 but then they sell so quickly. We have almost 30 pending sales in Le Mars right now.” Hurt says there’s been a dip in home sales in the Le Mars area and she points to the short inventory list of available homes, plus, a longer list of buyers.

“The interest rates have crept up a little bit. They’re hovering in that 5% area for a 30-year fixed rate,” Hurt says. “We’ve we’ve seen a little bit of a slowdown as far as purchasing goes but there’s still a lot of buyers out there. They’re just waiting for that right house.” Hurt says homes aren’t on the market very long, just two weeks on average. While home prices are rising, she says buyers are still motivated, but they are more selective.

(John Slegers, KLEM, Le Mars)