by Rob Cook on January 19, 2012
I was privileged to be interviewed yesterday by Becca Habegger from KWWL to comment on the state of the real estate market in Dubuque and for Iowa overall (see yesterday’s post for my 2011 round-up of sales figures for Dubuque’s real estate market) . There’s nice two-minute video that aired several times on the KWWL’s news shows since then and I thought I’d post it here for keeping it archived.
Compliments also to Mel Graves of Brissey Realty for his included participation in Becca’s report. Mel’s one of the really good guys in the business, in fact when I started in real estate waaaaayyy back in 2004, Mel was an office mate of mine. To the video…
There’s a more elaborate article posted on KWWL’s website (click here) that digs further than the two-minute video can. Some highlights…
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DUBUQUE (KWWL) – The Iowa Association of Realtors is reporting a glimmer of positive news in its annual 2011 Housing Trends Report, out this month. It says home sales were up statewide in December, for the fifth consecutive month, and steady throughout 2011.
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Rob Cook is a realtor for Ruhl and Ruhl in Dubuque, a real estate blogger and self-proclaimed “numbers guy.” He pulled statistics from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), showing Dubuque is number two in the nation when it comes to high rates of house appreciation. Those numbers show the average home in Dubuque appreciated 2.46 percent in one year, through Sept. 2011, and 8.06 percent over the course of five years. Bismark, N.D., by the way, took top marks, with a 15.99 percent five-year average appreciation.
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Mel Graves is a realtor with Brissey in Dubuque and secretary and treasurer of the Dubuque Board of Realtors. He pointed out 2011 was the first year without any tax credit incentives for home buyers, “so this is a pure year, this is just market-driven,” he said. Graves said he has noticed a slight increase in consumer confidence.
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Regardless of state or national housing market numbers, however, Cook suggests buyers and sellers look at their own particular market. “They need to be fully aware of what’s going on in their market and not pay attention so much to the national news, you know, as far as, you know, both real estate thing and the economy overall,” Cook said. “It’s a factor, but, you know, it’s kind of like what they say with the realtor ads, you know, ‘All real estate is local.’”
I said completely too many “you know’s” in that last quote…must…not…you know…..
by Rob Cook on January 18, 2012
Now that we can put the wraps on the 2011 Dubuque real estate market, it’s time to see just how well we’ve done. While national headlines torment us with tales of real estate woe and unemployment, I’m here to let you know that Dubuque is not doing all too bad.
Just like with NFL quarterbacks, they say consistency is the key to victory – consistently GOOD performances win the game. In Dubuque, we’re now three years into a good, yes consistent, real estate market. With Dubuque unemployment hovering around the 5.0% mark, most folks in town have a fair to good job and can own a home…
In an uncanny coincidence, sales of homes in the Dubuque area have pretty much matched the performance of the previous two years, selling 787 total homes in 2011 vs. selling 785 in 2010 and again 787 in 2009. We’re talking here about the total number of residential home sales in the three Dubuque zip codes of 52001, 52002, & 52003. To the first chart…
And…the average sales prices of those three years have been pretty steady as well. The average Dubuque home sales price in 2011 was $158,055, following averages of $155,255 and $154,869 in 2010 & 2009, respectively. As a side note – average sales price does not directly reflect overall average home values – that is a post for another day (maybe tomorrow!). Here are a few graphs I cooked up (pun intended!)…
And finally, let’s take at a quick look at a break down of how individual price ranges have performed over the last few years…
I wouldn’t say there’s anything really profound in the break down of sales per price range over the last few years. It’s simply interesting to see how the various price ranges performed year after year…
by Rob Cook on December 16, 2011
From US News and Kimberly Castro …You might think you’re the Tim Tebow of home buying, but still you should know Kim’s 10 Rookie Home Buyer Mistakes to Avoid.
I can’t say I disagree with any of the 10 tips, though, I especially favor tips #6 & #7 (of course I would!)…and can’t emphasize enough the importance of #8 (hiring an inspector).
by Rob Cook on December 16, 2011
From New York by The Real Deal Online, a complicatated and cautionary tale for agents and consumers about the issue of dual agency.
Yep, I’ve been involved in a number of “dual agency” transactions – it’s a very fine line to walk and all parties have to know who represents who and in what way. The limits that dual agency places on an agent’s ability to serve an individual client need to be clear. It can be done, but pitfalls are certain if the agent doesn’t carefully walk that fine line…