| $ | ||
| % | ||
| yrs | ||
| % | ||
| $ | ||
| 30 Year Fixed | 3.64% | |
| 15 Year Fixed | 3.02% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.77% | |
Jan
12
Leading economic indicators for the state fell for the 4th straight month, to 104.29, down 1.07% on an annualized rate. Remember, and negative reading at or over 2% would indicate an oncoming recession in the state. While we are pretty far away from that point, we are at the same reading we had in June …
Jan
09
The foreclosure & 90+ day delinquency rates remained elevated in October. Data just released shows a slight rise in each measure. I’m in contact with a lot of investors, and they seem to be the main buyer of these properties in Des Moines. They are finding some great deals, fixing them up, and reselling them …
Jan
06
I was very interested in the December housing number. Due to the unseasonably warm temperatures, I thought maybe we’d have some support or perhaps even a move upwards from November. But, to my chagrin, the seasonal forces are too strong. Prices dropped about $2,000, from $138,687 in November to $136,354 in December. No reason for alarm …
Jan
04
Here are a couple real estate related data points I like to track on a monthly basis. The most important of these is employment, which rose 0.6% from last year. This number, while not great, is encouraging since it is the only the second month of positive growth we have seen in the last year. …
Dec
21
Here is an update to most of the charts I think are important to the housing market in Des Moines & surrounding areas. First housing prices. They remain steady although the yearly growth rate does turn positive. Next Employment. I’m going to stop including the chart of the unemployment rate, since it is so misleading. …
Nov
30
Total employment in the Des Moines & surrounding area continues to decline, albeit at a very small amount. In September, total employment dropped 0.3% from a year ago. That was better than a -0.48% & -0.58% reading for the two months prior. Employment in the metro The good news is that the unemployment rate continues …
Nov
28
For the third month in a row, housing prices in the Des Moines area have risen on a year over year basis, but by less than they did the last two months. In October, prices showed a yearly increase of 0.03%. The good news is that it is still positive! The bad news is that …
Nov
22
The leading economic indicators index for Iowa dropped to 104.4 in September from 104.5 in August. The September reading equates to a -0.5% growth rate for the index over the least six months. This is important because a reading of -2% would signal a recession warning for the state. In order to get to that …
Nov
09
Many Realtors will tell you to “buy now!” because interest rates are low, and you never know when they’ll go back up. They’ll tell you the monthly payment on a 100K loan at 4.25% is the exact same as a 90K loan at 5.25%. Their argument, is that even if prices go down, you should …
Nov
06
The unemployment rate for the Des Moines area ticked down in September to 5.6 from an October reading of 5.9. Most people would look at this as good news for housing, but the unemployment numbers have little to do with prices, and are flawed by such things as seasonal adjustments and discouraged workers. So lets …
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