Iowa City, IA

537 Active Listings
60 Under Contract
4 Homes Sold Feb 1 - Feb 6
7.4 Months of inventory on the market

The absorption rate in Iowa City is just over 7 months, so we still have a buyers market. 6 months of inventory of homes on the market is considered neutral and less than 6 months trending to a sellers market. The absorption rate is a great tool for sellers to figure out how the market is trending.

Here's a link to a post I wrote a while back with pretty detailed info about the absorption rate.

Exciting weekend coming up as we look forward to Super Bowl Weekend. While you're preparing for the big game there's still time for a trip to the movies or take in a show before Sunday. If you're looking for choices, this is what I've come across in Iowa City and Coralville for this weekend February 5 through February 7...

Two new movies to share with you this week. The first is From Paris with Love - A deceiving title I think... I would have expected a romantic comedy and I would have been wrong... It's an action adventure movie with John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Myers. John Travolta plays a trigger happy CIA agent with his green side kick (Jonathan Rhys Myers) who are running around the streets of Paris causing mayhem as they try to prevent a terror attack. John Travolta is great in this kind of crazy roll so probably steals the show.

The other movie is Dear John, Lasse Hallestrom's adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel. It stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. It's about a young man who goes to war after meeting the love of his life. The letters his new love sends him are what get him through his days, but these very letters have consequences that neither could have envisioned. I've said it before, I've never seen a movie that truly lived up to the book. I love Lasse Hallestrom movies, but I'm going to stick by that statement!

You can catch these movies at the Coral Ridge Mall Movie Theatre in Coralville and the Sycamore Mall Cinema in Iowa City.

Moving onto the regular theatre... Lots of fun to be had this weekend in Iowa City. I'll kick off with the Englert where you can see improv sketch comedy at it's best with the 50th anniversary of Second City on both Saturday and Sunday. This is where some of today's most famous comedians started out, so you can expect big laughs as the troupe looks back at 50 years of classic sketches.

More comedy at The Riverside Theater where End Days continues it's run until February 21. This is a play about science, religion and suburbia. (Yes, I did say comedy... And I'm sure you're as surprised as me that a play about science and religion makes it into the comedy gendre!)


Another great weekend at The Mill of course. Friday sees the return of legendary singer-songwriter Dave Moore. Dave has played on nationally known radio programs like A Prairie Home Companion and The World Cafe.

Just to prove the point that The Mill is "the in place in town" Dr Dog with the Growlers is performing on Saturday and that show is sold out already! There's a reason The Mill was voted Best Live Entertainment Venue in the Press Citizen's Best of Area list...

If you like your country music with dance then check out the Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon. Great music and great food and free wi-fi...They often have specials too like all you can eat ribs on Wednesdays...They're on Facebook and you'll find a list of their specials there.

And for those of you who feel like kicking it up a notch the Riverside Casino might be just the place for you this weekend. It's not all about the casino, they have plenty of live entertainment too. This weekend they have quite a show lined up on Friday and Saturday with The Britins, a Milwaukee band who entertain audiences with a tribute to The Beatles. Talk about a trip down memory lane... It seems we have quite a bit of that going on this weekend in Iowa City.

All of this of course culminates with the big game on Sunday. Who are you rooting for? I think the soft-hearted amongst us will be rooting for the "underdog." From what I can see they know how to celebrate in New Orleans and if they pull this off that will be one heck of a party!

Another week bites the dust and as we head for another chilly weekend in Iowa City and Coralville. Cabin fever? Let's see what we've got going on in Iowa City and Coralville with my weekly round up of movies and events for January 29 through January 31.

As always, I'll start with new movie releases. Slow week this with just 2 new movies to share with you. The first is vintage Mel Gibson in Edge of Darkness. After the death of his daughter Thomas Craven, a Boston detective (Mel Gibson), takes to the street looking for vengeance. A classic revenge movie by all accounts. If you like Mel Gibson you probably won't be disappointed.

The next movie is When in Rome starring Kristen Bell. As the title suggests, she's in Italy and guess what, she has a man problem! Actually, more precisely after visiting the famous fountain she has too many men wooing her. The movie doesn't get good reviews, but that's nothing new for what I guess my sons would call a "chick flick." Seems like film critics often get it wrong when it comes to light and breezy comedies and children's movies too. Danny DeVito is in this movie, that makes it worth a second look right there...

You can catch these movies at the Coral Ridge Mall Cinema in Coralville and the Sycamore Mall Theatre in Iowa City.

The Englert has a weekend of opera lined up with performances of Mozart's La finta giardiniera (The Disguised Garden Maid) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It's part of the UI's Martha-Ellen Tye Opera Series and is directed by Gary Briggle.

More into comedy than opera? The Riverside Theater also has a show opening tonight. End Days is a funny play about science, religion and suburbia. (This has got to be good. Science and religion are not the first words that spring to mind for me when it comes to comedy). It runs from January 29 through February 21.

In the live entertainment arena The Mill has another fun filled weekend for us. In fact today, (Friday), they have 2 acts for us. The first is part of their Jazz after 5 series with OftEnsemble, a UI Jazz group performing 5.00pm - 7.30pm. Later, at 9.00pm The New Duncan Imperials will be making "the most glorious noise on the planet."

On Saturday Adobanga with Sarah Cram and the Derelicts will entertain us with an evening of rustic and rocking folk music.

If you like your country music with dance then check out the Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon. Great food, great music and free wi-fi...They often have specials too like all you can eat ribs on Wednesdays...They're on Facebook and you'll find a list of their specials there.

Moving in a different direction, Riverside Casino is another very popular local venue. You may be drawn by the casino, but they have plenty of live entertainment too.

Iowa City is a busy little town and Coralville has The Mall, the Ice Rink and Children's Museum for a great afternoon out with the family. My post is just a snapshot of a few of the highlights this weekend. Another good source for what's going on in the Iowa City area is the Press Citizen.

What's the biggest misconception about Iowa City? That would be the rural image folks have about our area. As someone who relocated to the Iowa City area 10 years ago I have plenty to compare this to and I can tell you that it ain't so...That we have a vibrant college town with absolutely loads going on. In fact there is so much to do I decided it's worthy of a series. I figure my best plan is to break down all the things you can do in this surprising town into categories and will start with theaters...


Coral Ridge Mall Movie Theatre is, as the name suggests, located at the Mall in Coralville. It's a pretty big theater with 10 screens and stadium seating. Tel: 319-625-1010

Sycamore Cinema is located on the east side of Iowa City at Sycamore Mall. It has 12 state-of-the-art auditoriums and in addition to movies often shows unique events that include simulcast live concerts, sporting events and the New York Metropolitan Opera, (MET). Tel: 319-351-8383

Bijou Theater is a non-profit student run theater at the Iowa Memorial Union in Iowa City that focuses on independent, art house, foreign and classic movies. They have 1 screen and tickets are available at the box office only on the day of showing. Tel: 319-335-3041.


New Strand Theatre is in West Liberty - Now this is a bit rural. It's a 15 minute commute east of Iowa City. New Strand is not just a movie theater, it's also home to wonderful puppet shows from the Eulenspiegel Puppet Theater. (I love puppet shows, they bring back lovely memories of my sons growing up in Germany). Tel: 319-627-2014


The Englert Theatre is a Community Arts Theatre in downtown Iowa City. It was built in 1912 by William Englert and his wife Etta who wanted to rival the finest stages and movie houses in the Midwest. The local newspaper at the time wrote that "Iowa had nothing finer." It is still an impressive building. Well-preserved and adds to the atmosphere of the historic part of downtown Iowa City. In the spirit of Vaudeville, The Englert embraces all the Arts and hosts performances from all over the world. Case in point, The Peking Acrobats will be performing there in February. Tel: 319-688-2653

Riverside Theatre is located on Gilbert St and is Iowa City's resident professional theatre. It was founded in 1981 and strives to offer an artistic home for theatre professionals while entertaining audiences with intimate, engaging productions from the classics to world premieres. Tel: 319-338-7672

Hancher Auditorium was damaged in the floods of 2008, so does not have a physical address at present. That doesn't stop them organizing events though and these take place at a variety of locations, depending on the needs of the performers and ranges from West High School Auditorium to The Englert and The Mill in Iowa City. (Check out the website and you'll see they have 11 different locations). Tel: 319-335-1160

Iowa City Community Theatre was established in 1956 and is dedicated to promoting the dramatic arts in and around Iowa City. They perform at a variety of locations, including Johnson County Fairgrounds and The Englert.