Coralville, IA

7 homes sold in Coralville in January 2012 compared to 15 homes sold in January 2011. If that seems like a bit of a drastic drop, only 3 sold in January 2010, which kind of puts things more in perspective. In fact I went back a few years and the low single digits is more typical for the last few years, making 7 seem more "normal" for the time of year than the high 15 homes sold last year.

The absorption rate is at 7.2 months, that's an average of 217 days on market. (6 months absorption rate is a balanced market). Coralville is not doing as well as Iowa City where home sales are up for the 7th straight month and the absorption rate down to a low 4.8 months. If you check out the annual report for home sales in Coralville for 2011 you'll see that in general the trend is positive with a glitch every now and then. It's likely that this month is one of those glitches.

As we head towards spring and the peak buying time of the year, I wouldn't be surprised to see the numbers of homes sold in Coralville up again in the coming months. Especially when you consider Coralville benefits from its close proximity to Iowa City and is popular with buyers relocating to the Iowa City area for the UIOWA and UI Hospitals. With incoming Residents and Students thinking about accommodation for the Fall semester right around the corner, these are buyers that will have a big impact on home sales in Coralville in the coming months.

For information on the average and median price of homes in Coralville in January please visit the original post at Iowa City Homes For Sale

So what's the takeaway this month? Too few homes sold in January in Coralville to really make anything of the data. The single family homes that sold were lower priced homes, while the condos that sold were priced on the higher end. That right there is a strange phenomena for Coralville. We're just going to have to wait and see what the spring market brings.

One thing's for sure. If you've got a house to sell, now is the time to get it on the market. You want to have your house on the market at a time when there are the most buyers out there to see it. If not as many homes are selling in Coralville at the moment, you want to have the advantage of having yours on the market when there are the most eyes on it. And that just happens to be spring and early summer.

If you have a house to sell in Coralville I'd love the opportunity to talk with you and discuss your options. You can either call at 319-400-0268 or drop me an email with some basic information about your home and I'll provide you with a complimentary market analysis.

Home Sales in Coralville IA January - December 2011

Home Sales in Coralville by School District January - December 2011

Home Sales in Iowa City January - December 2011

Home Sales in Iowa City by School District January - December 2011

Data for the market report for January collected from the Iowa City MLS February 9, 2012

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

Winter arrived just in time for the Winterfest in Coralville this year. Until last week it didn't look like we were going to get a winter in Iowa this year. Fortunately for all of us the weather gods smiled down on us and it is suitably cold with a fair amount of snow for this Sunday's annual celebration of winter at the Iowa River Landing.

Coralville Winterfest celebrates it's fifth year this year with lots of fun activities scheduled both indoors and outside. This is a Free Family Friendly event and at a time of the year when the kids are starting to get a bit restless it's a great way to spend a Sunday Afternoon. You can view a map of the area with full schedule for this year's Winterfest in Coralville through this link.

Schedule for Coralville Winterfest 2011:

Sunday January 22, 2012 - 1.00pm - 4.00pm

Outdoor Activities - Iowa River Landing

Roasting Chestnuts
KGAN - Weather Road Warrior w/Justin Roberts
Ice Sculpting w/ Ron Hall and Dave Dettman - 1:30 pm
Horse Drawn Carriage Rides

Indoor Activities - Marriott Hotel Exhibition Hall

ICM - Arts, Crafts & Games
Coralville Public Library - Activities
Summer of the Arts - Children’s Crafts
Concession Stand
Coralville Fire & Police Department
UI Baseball Team Autographs
Funny Face Designs by Lori
Papa Balloon
Coralville Ecumenical Food Drive
Healthy Kids Initiative
UI Museum of Natural History
West Music Activities
Silent Auction (cash and check only)
1:00-3:15pm
Iowa City Bird Club

Indoor Activities - Johnson County Historical Society

Animal Tracking/ Iowa Wildlife
Children’s Crafts
Old Fashioned Candy Making
Corps of Engineers: Devonian Fossil Gorge
Display and Flood Video
Hawkeye Model Railroad Club Tours
19th Century Printing Press Demo
Archeology of the Iowa River Landing

Other Activities at the 2012 Winterfest in Coralville

***KCJJ tours and live interviews

***Free Wassail tasting at Vesta

strong>***Obstacle course and Activities at Diamond Dreams

Originally posted at Living in Iowa

Generally January is the month when I ask myself what made me think relocating to Iowa was a good idea. That's every year except this year that is! Today I took time out from my market reports and spent some time out in the sunshine. Brown Deer Golf Course in Coralville is a two minute drive from where I live and I figured I'd be sure to find some golfers out in this 50 something degree weather today. I did run into someone leaving the golf course when I took this shot, but other than that I struck out with that idea. I enjoyed the sunshine nonetheless. I'm starting to wonder whether winter is going to show up at all this year in Iowa. Although I should maybe keep my mouth shut or I could jinx it!

Home sales in Coralville were down slightly in 2011, as you'll know if you read this post a couple of days ago. Surprisingly it was single family homes that took the biggest hit, with single family home sales in Coralville down 20% compared to 2010. Fortunately zero lot sales were up by 46% or the overall numbers of homes sold in Coralville in 2011 wouldn't have come out nearly as well as they did. This is definitely one of those times the phrase "real estate is local" springs to mind. Iowa City is just a stone's throw away and yet single family home sales were up in 2011 there and and condo sales down.

If you're thinking of listing your home in Coralville in the coming months the take away from this is that zero lot owners can be quite optimistic about the trend in the housing market in Coralville. That said. Data is only part of the equation. Nice homes that show well and are realistically priced will always sell. As long as you set your expectations in line with the market you'll do just fine whether that's in Coralville or anywhere else in the greater Iowa City area.

When you're ready to make your move please give me a call. I'm always happy to share information and help you figure out your options.

Data for this market report came from the Iowa City Area MLS January 6, 2011

Originally posted at Iowa City Homes for Sale