Real estate agents weigh in on Sioux City spring housing market trends

Are you among the millions of Americans looking to buy your next home?

The Spring housing market is here, and it's a pretty unique one if you are interested in buying or selling a house this season, compared to years in the past.

Local Siouxland real estate experts and national experts weigh in on the latest housing data.

In 2022, the average selling point for a home in Sioux City was $205,000. Year to date, that has increased to $235,000 according to Jeff Carlson, Owner and Broker at RE/MAX Experience in Sioux City.

Carlson added, "Those numbers are skewed a little bit because some of those homes are some of your higher prices from the Tyson relocations. So if you look at the median though, and you look at the median home sold in Sioux City, we're up from 200,000 in 2022, which was the first time that Sioux City eclipsed 200,000 is a median average to now 208,000 In 2023. which is a 4.5% percent increase which is pretty typical from a housing increase."

National RE/MAX Real Estate experts are weighing in. Nick Bailey, CEO of RE/MAX, LLC said, "In Sioux City, for example, your prices are up. They continue to go up even from last year. Your days on the market are still around 46. It's only going up by 1 day in the last year. And you are seeing more houses in your market come on the market, but with the demand that's out there, If they're sitting chances are good that they're not priced right. And that can be sometimes the biggest mistake that sellers make."

They say a high price tag can be detrimental to a seller, actually selling between 5-8% lower than the market price.

Bailey continued, "So having a great agent that knows the market that knows what the pricing is, that is one of the most important things that sellers can get right."

Carlson Group has 11 properties under contract in the Siouxland area just this month of May and is helping people buy and sell their homes.

"The housing market is a bright point we have we have over 50% of owners currently have either 50% equity in their home or have their home paid off. What's that mean? That's a strong foundation for our housing market. So I think that you're going to continue to see prices, you know, increase that at a steady amount, you know, at four, four and a half percent," Carlson added while showing Siouxland News around a property for sale in the Morningside area.

If you're looking to get a home, buyers should prequalify. Lenders will help you find out what rate will work for you and what kind of mortgage works for your family.

"A 30-year fixed but look at other things like adjustable rate mortgages or interest, buy down products or first-time homebuyer products. A lot of those come with a lower interest rate and can be very helpful. But when you're pre-qualified, you know before you go home shopping, actually what you can afford and so you can match what you can afford with the homes that are on the market. And that is also the best way to have success in getting your offer accepted," Bailey added.

You also have to time the market, but it's not necessarily the timing you think.

"It's not timing around inflation or the economy or some of these things. It's really timing about you. Is life good for you to be a buyer right now? You might be getting married or having children expanding your family, you might unfortunately be getting a divorce or relocating for a job. It's really timing for you personally that drives the overall market," Bailey said.

"So it'd be my opinion that we're gonna see some lessening on those, those interest rates here. end of the year, we're going into q1 of next year, And you know, because people are kind of sitting tight, we've been sitting on low inventory, which again, is proudly kept prices propped up. but I do think that moving into the next year, we're gonna see a lot more movement in this market," Carlson said.