February 1, 2024

Ames Real Estate Recap

Inventory levels remain low, although improving. Home sales are heating up. The average sale price remains high.

*New Listings--The 45 new listings in Ames in January were down 10% from the previous 9-year average for new listings (50) in Ames for January. As of February 1, 2024, there were 79 residential properties for sale in Ames on our MLS. 

*Homes Under Contract (Sale Pending)--In January, 34 homes went "sale pending" in Ames. This compares to the 9-year average of 43 "sale pendings" in Ames for January (down 21%).

*Days on the Market--Homes that sold in Ames in January averaged 25 days on the market. Over the past 9 years, homes that sold in Ames in January averaged 53 days on the market. 

 *Average Sale Price--The January average sale price for homes sold in Ames was $326,851. Over the previous 3 years, the average sale price in Ames for January was approximately $273,000. That's approximately at 16% increase. In 2020, the average sale price was $238,579.

*List Price to Sale Price Ratio--In January, homes in Ames sold for 97.5% of their asking price. Very comparable to the last 3 years.

*Absorption Rate--The absorption rate calculates how quickly the inventory turns in months when comparing the current inventory to the current number of sales. Historically, an absorption rate of 3 months is considered to be strong and 1 month or less was unheard of. The higher the absorption rate the weaker the market. The absorption rate has been slowly increasing. This is the 19th month out of the previous 20 months in which the absorption rate has weakened from the previous year. With that being said, January's absorption rate remained strong at 1.7 months.

January 1, 2024

Ames Real Estate Recap

Inventory levels remain low. The average sale price remains high.

*New Listings--The 21 new listings in Ames in December were down 16% from the previous 8-year average for new listings (25) in Ames for December. As of January 1, 2024, there were 69 residential properties for sale in Ames on our MLS. 

*Homes Under Contract (Sale Pending)--In December, 23 homes went "sale pending" in Ames. This compares to the 8-year average of 30 "sale pendings" in Ames for December (down 24%).

*Days on the Market--Homes that sold in Ames in December averaged 62 days on the market. Over the past 8 years, homes that sold in Ames during December averaged 55 days on the market. Homes took 11% longer to sell than the 8-year average.

 *Average Sale Price--The December average sale price for homes sold in Ames was $325,761. Over the previous 3 years, the average sale price in Ames for December was $279,603. In 2015 the average sale price was $195,653.

*List Price to Sale Price Ratio--In December, homes in Ames sold for 94.7% of their asking price. This is the lowest list price-to-sale price ratio we've seen since February 2020.

*Absorption Rate--The absorption rate calculates how quickly the inventory turns in months when comparing the current inventory to the current number of sales. Historically, an absorption rate of 3 months is considered to be strong and 1 month or less was unheard of. The higher the absorption rate the weaker the market. The absorption rate has been slowly increasing. This is the 18th month out of the previous 19 months in which the absorption rate has weakened from the previous year. With that being said, December's absorption rate remained strong at 1.8 months.

December 1, 2023

Ames Real Estate Recap

Inventory levels remain low. Homes continue to sell quickly. Buyers have been able to negotiate some.

*New Listings--The 27 new listings in Ames in November were down 21% from the previous 8-year average for new listings (34) in Ames for November. As of December 1, 2023, there were 85 residential properties for sale in Ames on our MLS. 

*Homes Under Contract (Sale Pending)--In November, 25 homes went "sale pending" in Ames. This compares to the 8-year average of 41 "sale pendings" in Ames for November (down 39%).

*Days on the Market--Homes that sold in Ames in November averaged 36 days on the market. Over the past 8 years, homes that sold in Ames during November averaged 49 days on the market. Homes sold 26% faster than the 8-year average.

 *Average Sale Price--The November average sale price for homes sold in Ames was $377,629. This is a significant increase from November 2022 and ends a streak of 4 consecutive months in which the Ames average sale price has decreased when compared to 2022. Four of the properties that closed this November were over $650k, one was over $1 million.

*List Price to Sale Price Ratio--In November, homes in Ames sold for 96% of their asking price. This is the lowest list price-to-sale price ratio we've seen since 2020.

*Absorption Rate--The absorption rate calculates how quickly the inventory turns in months when comparing the current inventory to the current number of sales. Historically, an absorption rate of 3 months is considered to be strong and 1 month or less was unheard of. The higher the absorption rate the weaker the market. The absorption rate has been slowly increasing. This is the 17th month out of the previous 18 months in which the absorption rate has weakened from the previous year. With that being said, November's absorption rate remained strong at 2.1 months.