The Des Moines-West Des Moines residential real estate market has been named one of the National Association of Realtors’ top 10 markets and one that is expected to continue to perform well in 2021, according to a recent release from the group.

Markets that have performed well during the pandemic will likely continue to do well, Lawrence Yun, the association’s chief economist and senior vice president of research, said in a news release. “They will likely carry that momentum well into 2021 and beyond because of strong in-migration of new residents, faster local job market recoveries and environments conducive to work-from-home arrangements and other factors.” 

Also included in the top 10 metro markets were Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, Ga.; Boise City, Idaho; Charleston-North Charleston, S.C.; Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas; Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.; Madison, Wis.; Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, Ariz.; Provo-Orem, Utah; and Spokane-Spokane Valley, Wash.

Criteria used to identify the top metro markets include unemployment rates; net domestic migration including movers from the West Coast; share of workers in the hard-hit areas of retail, travel and hospitality industries; and the proportion of the workforce working from home, the release said. 

The listing among the top U.S. residential real estate markets comes on the heels of another strong month of home sales in the Greater Des Moines area. In November, 1,288 houses were sold, nearly 23% more than in November 2019, Des Moines Area Association of Realtors data shows.

Through the first 11 months of 2020, there have been 14,449 residential home sales, nearly 15% more than in 2019, the data shows. 

The Greater Des Moines market includes Polk, Dallas, Warren, Jasper, Marion, Madison and Guthrie counties. 

“This continues to be a year of surprises with very low interest rates and new sales records along with record low inventory,” Lance Hanson, the local association’s president, said in a news release.   

The Des Moines Realtors group’s data for November also showed:
•Residential properties were on the market an average of 61 days, an increase from October when houses were on market an average of 43 days.
•Just 2,387 residential properties were on the market, the lowest number since at least January 2018. 
•The median home sale price was $215,000, slightly higher than $212,500 in November 2019. In October 2020, the median sale price was $235,000.
•The majority of homebuyers in November – 923 – used conventional financing to purchase their new homes. In addition, 143 paid cash.