New Construction in the Des Moines market has been pretty stable for the last couple years. It is not a secret that Ankeny has more new construction than any other city/town in central Iowa. We have seen consistent growth in Ankeny and it seems like all homes that are built, sell. Is this trend going to stop anytime soon? It sure doesn’t seem like that is the case. As I am sifting through the numbers, I am seeing our month supply of new homes consistently less than a 6 month supply. The 6 month supply is a benchmark that we use to determine if it is a buyers or sellers market. If we see less than a 6 month supply it tends to lean towards a sellers market and if we see more than a 6 month supply it moves towards a buyers market.
New houses in Ankeny priced between $175,000 and $200,000 are slim pickings. We have sold about 37 houses in 2012 and we only have 17 for sale. That leaves us with a 3.5 month supply of homes. Ranch style homes make up around 8 of the houses currently active and 22 sold. So if you see a ranch on the market between $175,000 and $200,000 expect it to sell quickly because we only have a 3 month supply of them in Ankeny.
In Ankeny we currently have 27 new homes for sale between $200,000 and $225,000. Of the 27 we have 15 ranch style homes and 12 two-story homes. We have sold 54 houses in Ankeny between $200,000 and $225,000 leaving our market holding a 3.85 month supply of homes in that price range. 3.85! I am astonished to see these so low but it is what it is! Ranch homes in that price range have a 3.25 month supply while two-story homes have a 5.6 month supply in Ankeny.
If I bump up the price range to $225,000 to $250,000 we see a very similar trend to the lower price range. We have sold about 54 new homes priced between $225,000 and $250,000 while only carrying 26 active listings. We have a 3.85 month supply of homes in that price range. This is still a very good number for builders and home prices. In the same price range we have a 3.25 month supply of new ranch style homes and a 4.7 month supply of two-stories.
Homes priced between $250,000 and $300,000 have been moving at the same rate. This may be a shock to you but with these interest rates you are seeing many people buying their second or third home. We have a 3.2 month supply of new homes priced between $250,000 and $300,000. We currently have about 12 ranch style homes and 16 two-story new homes active for sale. With such a small month supply they won’t be around long. If builders don’t get a start on the next season we could be very short on supply. Builders, build away!
This is all good news for our local economy. The more houses that sell and the smaller our inventory is the faster our home values should come back. Stay tuned to my blog for occasional new construction updates.
Your local real estate expert.
Tim Scheib
Cell: (515)313-7103
Licensed Realtor in the Iowa.
Century 21 Signature Real Estate
1705 N. Ankeny Blvd Ste 101
Ankeny, IA 50021
All information based on figures pulled from the Des Moines Multiple Listing on 8/28/2012. All figures are factual estimates.
New Construction Trends in Central Iowa 