Don’t trust the headlines!
Thought I’d share some facts with you as many are asking about home appreciation. News stories about the national market like to highlight places with the biggest changes, positive or negative which might make us believe that’s the story everywhere. Iowa is doing very well in the housing market. Based on lack of new house construction in price ranges below $350k, baby boomers staying in their homes longer, millennials finally coming out in full force to buy homes, natural disasters that have removed housing units and the ability to live in affordable places like Iowa and work elsewhere, we continue to have more buyers than available homes, especially for homes priced below $350k. Supply and demand continues to cause housing appreciation in our area. Contact me if you’d like to learn more, get a current market value for your home or need help winning the offer as a buyer. We can help!
This News Release was issued by Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS on June 6, 2023.
June 6, 2023
Contacts: Caroline Ruhl, CEO; Phone: 563-441-5001, Email: CarolineRuhl@RuhlHomes.com Chris Beason, President; Phone: 563-340-2763, Email: ChrisBeason@RuhlHomes.com
The Federal Housing Finance Agency published the 2023 Q1 Housing Price Index report and national data shows home prices rose 4.3% between the first quarters of 2022 and 2023. House prices were up 0.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.
The report noted that the U.S. housing market has experienced positive annual appreciation each quarter since the start of 2012.
The Five-year home appreciation in our region was between 31.00% and 39.01% with all of our regional Metropolitan Statistical Areas experiencing positive gains.
In the past year, home prices in our markets have increased: +11.56% in Iowa City; +6.68% in Cedar Rapids; and +8.24% in the Quad Cities. This compares to other cities: Des Moines +8.63% and Chicago +6.33%. Of course, there is variation based on price range and location of properties, with more affordable properties appreciating more and expensive properties appreciating less.
| Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) |
Percent Change in House Prices |
Percent Change in House Prices 1st Quarter 2023 |
| Cedar Rapids, IA | + 6.69% + 33.29% | + 3.16 |
| Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IL | + 8.24% + 31.00% | + 1.11 |
| Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | +8.63 + 39.01% | – 0.34 |
| Iowa City, IA | + 11.56% + 33.62% | + 0.74 |
| Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA | + 14.58% + 35.75% | + 5.88 |
| USA | + 4.28% +56.06% | + 0.49 |
Information courtesy of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) for the first quarter of 2023. FHFA stats always run one-quarter behind. Their full report is available at www.fhfa.gov.
“U.S. house prices generally increased modestly in the first quarter”, said Dr. Anju Vajja, Principal Associate Director in FHFA’s Division of Research and Statistics.
“Basically, it’s true that it costs more to buy a home today than it did last year, but the same is true for renting. This means, either way, a buyer or renter is going to be paying more.”, said Caroline Ruhl, CEO of Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors.
The difference is with homeownership, owners are also gaining equity over time, which helps grow their net worth. The question becomes “what makes more sense for you?”
About Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors
A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors has grown to 320 sales associates, 61 employees, and ten offices, selling more than 5,200 homes in eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois, and southwest Wisconsin. The company has residential sales offices in Bettendorf, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Iowa City, and Muscatine Iowa; and in Moline, Illinois. For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com.