Des Moines housing starts the year with cooling prices and mortgage rates

State of play: Mortgage rates are forecast to average about 6.3% in 2026, down slightly from recent peaks but still well above pandemic-era lows.

• Buyers may rely more on multigenerational living or co-buying to manage costs.

Zoom in: Iowa remains more affordable than many states, but prices have surged roughly 300% over recent decades, squeezing first-time buyers.

Yes, but: Pricing in the metro is showing signs of cooling with the median list price of homes down about $15,000 since 2022, local Realtor and former DSM Association of Realtors president Les Sulgrove said in a presentation last week.

• The median list price was around $330,000 last month.

What we're watching: How the metro responds to recent warnings that the supply of affordable housing isn't keeping pace with demand.