Home sales in the Des Moines metro declined by nearly 12% in 2022 and more than 33% year over year in December, according to an annual report from the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors.
The decline illustrated the toll taken at the local level by of rising interest rates. Residential home sales in the Des Moines metro area fell 11.6% from 17,653 homes sold in 2021 to 15,605 sold in 2022, according to the report. In December the number of homes sold in the metro area fell 33% from 1,361 in December 2021 to 906.
Homes also spent an average of 52 days on the market at the end in 2022, almost double the 28 days they spent on the market at the end 2021.
The median home sale price in December fell to $250,000 in December, $2,000 lower than the same month a year earlier and down from the June all-time record of $283,500. Overall, however, the median sale price for 2022 was $270,000, up about 7.5% from $250,000 in 2021.
According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage climbed from 2.78% on July 22 2021, to a high of 7.08% on Nov. 10. On Thursday the average was 6.33%, according to Freddie Mac.
Last year the Federal Reserve increased interest rates seven times, making it costlier to borrow money for homes, cars and other purchases in an effort to stop high inflation.
told the Associated Press last month.
“The new rate pretty dramatically increases your monthly payments and your cost,” Hoyt said.
Nationwide, 640,000 homes were sold in November, a 15.3% decrease from 756,000 sold in November 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Home sales dipped for the 10th straight month in November, according to the National Association of Realtors. Homes typically remained on the market for 24 days, up from 21 days in October and 18 days in November 2021, according to the release.
Home sales slump felt at metro’s largest private employer
Wells Fargo, the Des Moines area’s largest private employer bases its mortgage lending operation in West Des Moines and has struggled with rising interest rates that dragged down home lending. Mortgage originations in the fourth quarter of 2022 declined 70% from 2021, according to the company’s quarterly report, issued Friday. The bank, the Des Moines metro’s largest private employer, announced last week it would end its correspondent mortgage operation — purchasing loans originated by other lenders — and scale back its loan servicing businesses, moves that could signal additional job cuts after the 425 it announced in 2022.
In a news release, National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun said home sales resembled sales activity seen during the brief but sharp recession at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Housing inventory is near historic lows, according to Yun.
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Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, [email protected] or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.
Source: news.google.com