MOLINE, Ill. — A national report shows home prices are expected to fall in 2023, but local realtors are saying they don't expect that in the Quad Cities region.
News 8's Charles Hart spoke with Ruhl & Ruhl Realtors CEO Caroline Ruhl who said home prices in the Quad Cities are continuing to rise, and is expecting that trend to continue for 2023.
“For the Quad Cities metropolitan statistical area (MSA), in the past year, home prices are up 7.72%,” Ruhl said. “And over the past five years, they're up 30%”.
The report was done by Reuters, which states “U.S. home prices are forecast to decline modestly this year, and by less than previously thought as demand has declined slightly expectations that interest rates have further to rise,” according to property analysis polled by Reuters.
Right now mortgage rates for a 30-year-fixed mortgage is sitting right around 6%. Ruhl says that is still considered affordable. She also says a mortgage between 5% and slightly more than 6% would be a smart investment, as of early March 2023.
“We've got way more buyers than we do sellers,” Ruhl said. “And that's what's keeping our prices strong in our region, we still have great demand from buyers, but we just don't have enough inventory.”
Statistics from Ruhl & Ruhl Realtors shows the average sales price of a home in Iowa-Quad Cities, in 2022, was $250,000, while in the Illinois-Quad Cities was $150,000.
“We’re a very affordable market. And it's the expensive markets where they're having real problems with prices,” Ruhl said.
Ruhl said home prices were up 7.72% in 2022 and 30% over the past 5 years.
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