The nationwide economic shutdown caused by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus has had little effect on homes sales in the Des Moines area, and with interest rates for mortgages at historic lows, real estate agents expect sales to be strong for the remainder of 2020.

In the first six months of 2020, 6,681 houses were sold in the metro area, data collected by the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors shows. The number of sales is 6% more than the 6,302 houses sold during the same period of 2019.

The average number of days a house for sale stayed on the marked in June shrunk to 50, nine fewer than June 2019, the data shows. 

“Even though the COVID events happened, we’re in a strong seller’s market,” said Kacy Bell, operating principal for Keller Williams’ Des Moines, Ankeny, Ames and Siouxland offices. “We actually have a shortage of inventory. Many times, there are multiple offers on listings and homes are selling very quickly. Business is good.”

Bell said it helped that in Iowa, real estate companies were considered “essential businesses,” a move that allowed offices to remain open when other businesses faced mandatory closures. In other parts of the country, real estate offices closed for several weeks, she said.

“I think that has contributed to our market remaining strong,” she said.

Nationally, 4.1 million new and existing houses have been sold in the U.S. in the first six months of 2020, 3.4% more than the 3.9 million sold in the same period in 2019, data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development shows. 

Nationwide’s chief economist David Berson attributes the strong sales to several things: record low mortgage rates, an increase in the number of people employed, a shortage of existing houses to buy, and an increase in the demand for more space as an increasing number of Americans are working and educating their children at home.

“We expect that these positive demand factors will remain in place for a while – helping to keep new home sales strong over at least the second half of the year,” Berson said in a prepared statement.

Homebuilders in the Greater Des Moines area are also having a strong year. A review of residential building permits issued in the metro area in the first half of 2020 showed a 25% increase over 2019. 

Historically low interest rates are fueling home sales, experts say. Last week, the 30-year fixed-rate average mortgage sank to 2.98%, the first time in 50 years the rate has been below 3%, according to Freddie Mac, the federally chartered mortgage investor. This week, the average rate was 3.01%.

Larry Goodell, Wells Fargo’s market manager for Iowa and Nebraska, said the company is seeing an increase in applications for mortgages compared with a year ago.

“I think buyers are looking for different spaces – more people are working from home,” he said. “They are looking for other amenities in a home that they don’t have now.”

Home sales would likely be higher if more existing houses were on the market, Lance Hanson, Greater Des Moines Area Association of Realtors president, said. In June 2019, there were 3,841 home sale listings in Polk, Dallas, Warren, Jasper, Marion, Madison, and Guthrie counties, association data shows. In June 2020, there were 2,791 listings.

“Our listings are extremely limited,” Hanson said. “It is a battle to find houses to sell.”

Bell, of Keller Williams, said she expects the home selling market in Central Iowa to remain strong throughout the remainder of 2020. 

“Even though it’s an election year, even though we’re in a pandemic, we believe sales will remain strong going into 2021,” she said.