Residential new construction in Scott County is off to a promising start.  First quarter figures revealed that closed sales of both new houses and new condos were up slightly over the same period in 2009, yielding an overall 13.5% increase in unit sales. 

At the same time, pended new construction residential sales in the month of March more than doubled those of March 2009.  House sales were particularly strong in the $175,000-$300,000 price range, where closed sales were up 60% from 2009.   Meanwhile, sales of homes priced above $400,000 remained unchanged.  Due to lack of inventory, no house sales under the $175,000 level were recorded in the Multiple Listing Service.  Lack of saleable inventory is also evident in other price ranges, as Scott County’s new house inventory dropped 45% when compared to the 3/31/2009 inventory.  Condo sales were also up when compared the 2009, with sales limited to $300,000 and below.

This marked the 4^th consecutive quarter with no reported closed condo sales over $300,000 in Scott County.  Saleable inventory of new condos dropped 33% since 3/31/2009, but the available inventory is focused on the price ranges that have produced recent sales – under $300,000.

 Gains in Scott County new construction sales were offset by slumping numbers in Rock Island County in the first quarter.  Only one new house sale was reported to the Multiple Listing Service during the period, while condo sales dropped 56%.  The impact was a 55% reduction in closed sales for Rock Island County and a total drop of 2% in unit sales for the combined Scott-Rock Island County market.  Overall inventory units dropped 40% in the last twelve months, from 271 to 164.  In the critical price point below $225,000 – inventory also dropped 40%, from 100 to 60 units. Two story homes represented 50% of all the new house sales in the area, representing an upturn from the traditional percentage of about 38%.

While confidence on the part of builders and buyers has returned, any chance for a return to the new home sales numbers of 2006 will require more support from the lending and regulatory communities and an acknowledgement from developers and builders that our market will benefit greatly from more emphasis on entry level and move-up price points in residential new construction and this will feed a return to growth in our homebuilding industry.

A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS annually sells approximately 3,400 homes in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin.  Caroline Ruhl is the President and owner of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, and is the fourth generation of the Ruhl family to lead the residential brokerage and home services company.  Headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, the company has 250 sales associates and 50 employees based in sales offices located in Bettendorf, Bellevue, Clinton, Coralville, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Maquoketa, and Muscatine, in Iowa, and in Moline, Illinois.  In addition to residential sales, Ruhl&Ruhl offers services in relocation, new home sales, farm sales, senior services, real estate investment, property management and mortgage services through 1862 Mortgage.  For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl, visit their website at http://www.ruhlhomes.com/