There has been a lot of discussion with family, friends and clients about the status of the local real estate market. Everywhere we turn real estate is a hot topic. It amazes me as to how many different opinions I get from people about their views of the local market.   

I feel the local market has its pluses and minuses. It all depends on what price range were talking about, or if the homes are new construction, condos or resale. I have been responding to these many questions now with usually a similar variation of one answer..."the overall Iowa Quad City market is still good." It seems as though I have developed a "canned speech" to the questions regarding real estate sales. Therefore, I think it’s a good idea to list the current facts. These numbers were taken directly from our Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and pertain to the Scott County area dating back to the beginning of the year.

Listings taken:            1,697
Number sold:              826 (48.67%) avg. days on market: 66
    *This percentage, although somewhat low, is common. Usually it’s only about 55-60% that actually sell.
Number expired:          617 (36.36%)
Withdrawn/pending:     254
List/sale ratio:             97.48% (not including seller paid concessions, actual figure closer to 96.7%)
Average sales price:     $160,826
Average expired price:  $193,708
Current active:            854   
Average active DOM:    85

As I said, these figures are based on Scott County as a whole. Let’s break it down a little bit further:

Davenport: (just residential, does not include condos or income properties)
There are currently 511 active listings with an average list price of $155,564 and an average days on the market (DOM) of 76. Since January 1st, 1,074 listing were taken and of those 528 sold (49.16%). The average sales price was $124,316. This tells you that the lower priced homes are selling more than the higher priced ones.

Bettendorf: (just residential, does not include condos or income properties)
Bettendorf is a different story. Due to all the new construction going on the average price, both active and sold, is much higher than that of Davenport. There are 152 active listings in Bettendorf with an average list price of $348,510 and 110 days on the market (huh?? Davenport homes have fewer days on the market than Bettendorf? I bet all you Bulldogs are surprised to hear that). As of January 1st only 337 listing were taken and 194 of those sold giving us a slightly higher percentage sold (57.57%) than Davenport. Average sales price is $237,541. The list to sale price ratio is 97.65% in Bettendorf. 

When I perform market studies' and price analysis' for potential sellers I get very in-depth with the current statistics based off their homes market criteria. In addition to days on the market, average list price to sales price, cost per square foot, etc. I develop an in depth absorption rate. This gives my clients hard evidence to how many homes will sell in a given period of time based on my final price analysis and sales history going back 3-6 months. More importantly it should give the sellers an estimate as to how long their home will sit on the market. It will also address the current conditions and analyze the most similar homes; our competition. 

So many real estate agents out there will print off a couple listings, glance at them and guesstimate as to what they think the clients home is worth. I HAVE SEEN IT. I am one of the few who take the necessary steps to determine the right price. The information that I provide goes beyond the scope of an actual appraisal. My stats speak for themselves. In my nearly five years in the business I have had 2 listings expire and not sell. The rest have ALL sold and for more than the average list to sales price percentage. The majority of my listings also sell in a shorter period of time due to my pricing methods. If you are interested in selling please check out my full marketing plan at www.theBuyandSellguy.com

If you are interested in our real estate market conditions let me know. I can send you the current stats quarterly.