Iowa

Housing Trends by School District in Coralville 2011 Compared to 2010

01-31-12

Denise Hamlin, 319-400-0268 - Iowa City Real Estate & Relocation Services

view my blog
Office: (319) 400-0268

The most efficient way to search for homes in the Iowa City area is by school district. That way you can narrow down neighborhoods without making the area so small that the search becomes ineffective. That's the principal I use when helping buyers to find homes and figured it's just as effective a tool for researching homes sold by neighborhood. Last week I looked at Iowa City. Today I'm looking at homes sold in Coralville.

Coralville has a population of about 20,000 and there are 3 elementary schools in Coralville itself. Some children living in the north of Coralville visit one of the other three elementary schools shown on the chart below in neighboring towns Tiffin, North Liberty and Iowa City. (If you check out this post where I created a map of elementary schools in the area you can see just how close Coralville is to its neighbors).

***Clicking on the chart will take you to the full size version for easier reading

Kirkwood & Central Neighborhoods - Largest Number of homes sold in Coralville at the Most Affordable Prices

Kirkwood and Central Elementary Schools are in the heart of Coralville and this is where the most affordable homes can be found. This is the more established part of Coralville. This is where you'll find smaller single family homes, apartment style condos and A LOT of zero lots. For newer homes, buyers need to look further north. I relocated to Coralville in 2000 myself and a lot has changed since then. "New" Coralville, pretty much anything north of Holiday Rd, looks a lot different than it did when I arrived 12 years ago. The 12th Avenue extension takes commuters to North Liberty these days and Van Allen Elementary is just past the boundary between Coralville and North Liberty.

Opportunities for Buyers in the High End, Luxury Market in Coralville

Homes sold in the Wickham, Van Allan and Lincoln school districts as you can see are generally priced higher. The explanation for that is that the area to the north of Coralville has primarily larger single family homes and luxury condos. (Homes sold in the Clear Creek school district are apartment style condos in apartment buildings at Coral Ct).

If you checked out my market reports at the beginning of the year for Coralville you'll know that home sales were down a bit for the year compared to 2010. (275 homes sold in coralville in 2011 compared to 295 in 2010). What's clear from this chart is that home sales for the higher end and luxury market are down. This is obviously not great if you're a seller, but we all know every market is good for someone and this means opportunities for buyers. With interest rates below 4% it can only be a matter of time before buyers recognize they can get a whole lot of house with an interest rate that low!

I'm all about providing as much information as possible for buyers and sellers in Coralville and Iowa City. If you have any questions for me, please be sure to drop me an email or give me a call. I'm here to help!

Data for this market report was pulled from the Iowa City MLS January 31, 2011

Originally posted at Iowa City Homes for Sale

1 Comment

Relocating to Iowa City: A New Lifestyle Tool on my Website to Research Neighborhoods in Iowa City

01-31-12

Denise Hamlin, 319-400-0268 - Iowa City Real Estate & Relocation Services

view my blog
Office: (319) 400-0268

When it comes to helping buyers relocating to iowa city I'm always trying to think of new ways to get useful information to them. Often times I think the Internet offers us lots of choices, but they're not always that useful. (Or the websites are so cluttered with ads they're not exactly a joy to visit).

Just last week I stumbled upon a tool that I absolutely had to have on my website that will not only be a great resource for buyers relocating to iowa city, but also sellers interested in researching home sales in Iowa City neighborhoods. It offers all kinds of area information that I'm sure will be really useful, (yes there's that word again), for buyers and sellers alike.

This very classy Lifestyle Search Tool is from SpatialMatch. You can see it in action on Corinne's site, Barrington Real Estate Market Solutions. She has an upgraded version of this tool that includes a home search. This isn't an option the company is offering in Iowa City at the moment. You can be sure as soon as they do it will be available on my site too.

In the meantime I'm very happy with the Lifestyle Tool. Through the widget in the side panel on site, Iowa City Homes For Sale you can search for all kinds of things, ranging from schools, golf courses, coffee shops and more. The maps pop out to a full page version, making it much easier to use.

To give buyers relocating to iowa city an idea of how it works I created a search for elementary schools in the Iowa City area. (That's always high on the list of priorities of anyone relocating to Iowa City). The light blue shaded area indicates a half mile radius from the school. I've also added a border around the respective towns, (I started with Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty). If you click on the individual schools you'll get a wealth of information about the schools. If you select the border of one of the towns you'll get loads of information about the town.

Check it out. I'm sure you'll be as impressed as I was. (Okay, maybe not quite as impressed, I am a bit of a map fiend AND a data fiend, so of course this was the ultimate find for me!)

0 Comments

Intriguing luxury home finally sold!

01-30-12

Cy Phillips

view my blog

Mobile: (515) 422-4731

I get a lot of questions about the 14,000-square foot home with a football field (including goal posts), 1,000-sq ft pool, and guesthouse that was lived in for only 2 years. Well, the West Des Moines home, formerly owned by Dave Walter’s, that was built for more that $5 million in 2005-06 sold last week for $2.5 million. The property was turned over to the bank in 2008 and Northwest Bank has been trying to sell it since early 2009. If you’re interested, here’s the property link.

http://iow.mlxchange.com/DotNet/Pub/EmailView.aspx?r=704494457&s=IOW&t=IOW

1 Comment

Home Sales in Iowa City - Market Snapshot January 27, 2011

01-27-12

Denise Hamlin, 319-400-0268 - Iowa City Real Estate & Relocation Services

view my blog
Office: (319) 400-0268

25 homes sold in Iowa City in January so far. That puts home sales way ahead of January 2011 when only 9 homes sold in the entire month. The real estate market in Iowa City is getting off to a great start in 2012.

46 homes are listed as pending or contingent and 310 homes are currently showing as Active Listings on the Iowa City MLS. I'm going to say something now that I wasn't saying last year at this time. We need more inventory! I know for a fact buyers are looking for fresh listings. If you're on the fence about selling your home, now would be a REALLY good time to list it.

Chart showing homes sold, pending and active in Iowa City January 27, 2012

310 Active Listings
46 Homes Pending or Contingent
25 homes sold in Iowa City in January to date - 21 Single Family Homes, 3 Condos and one Zero lot

The Absorption Rate is at 4.5 months. That's an average of 137 days on market, (and technically a sellers market). If you follow the link you'll find out more about how the absorption rate is calculated. The number of active listings is part of that calculation and since that number is still pretty low it could be that the absorption rate is skewed lower than it really is.

That said, the low inventory is a good sign. (At least from a sellers's perspective, and for the economy in general come to that). Houses are selling in greater numbers again. If this trend continues in the coming months we could see a more stable and balanced market in Iowa City very soon.

Consider this your go to destination for information about the Iowa City real estate market and check back often for updates. Since there is so much misinformation around about how the housing market is doing I consider it my mission to prove with data that housing trends in Iowa City are looking good and things are humming along just nicely in this neck of the woods.

Home Sales in Iowa City by School District 2011

Home Sales in Iowa City January through December 2011

A Closer Look at Home Sales in Iowa City 2011

Source for data for this market report: Iowa City MLS January 27, 2011

Originally posted at Iowa City Homes For Sale

1 Comment

Do Roundabout’s Attract or Detract?

01-26-12

Cy Phillips

view my blog

Mobile: (515) 422-4731

Popular Des Moines neighborhood, Beaverdale, is planning to spruce up it’s business district with a roundabout on the corner of Urbandale and Beaver Avenue. This is designed to draw residents with bigger sidewalks, slow down traffic, and make the business area more attractive. Supporters have raised over $1 million to help pay for the project, but plans still need to be approved by the Des Moines City Council.

What do you think? This new trend of creating roundabouts has proponents and opponents.

1 Comment