Home sales in the Quad Cities are bucking the national trend as real estate activity is on the rise and the housing market is opening back up, the head of the Quad City Area REALTORS (QCAR) said. According to monthly statistics from QCAR, pending home sales across the bi-state market increased from 304 to 376 […]
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Home sales in the Quad Cities are bucking the national trend as real estate activity is on the rise and the housing market is opening back up, the head of the Quad City Area REALTORS (QCAR) said.
According to monthly statistics from QCAR, pending home sales across the bi-state market increased from 304 to 376 – or about 23% – from December 2024 to January 2025.
Year over year, January’s pending transactions increased 16.7% from 323 in 2024 to 377 in 2025, the realtor association’s CEO Sharon Smith said.
"They say real estate is all about location, location, location – and if that’s the case, then local real estate market statistics are key,” Ms. Smith told the QCBJ.
The Midwest housing market, she said, often shows distinct trends compared to the national averages. The association’s healthy outlook comes on the heels of a media report in late February, in which the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) said pending home sales nationwide had dropped to their lowest level on record in January (compared to December).
The NAR said pending sales dropped 4.6% between the two months to the lowest level since it began tracking the statistic in 2001. In addition, sales were down 5.2% from January 2024
“The big story is listings are up from last year,” Ms. Smith said, adding that there is more inventory and buyers returning to the market.
Nationally, the NAR pointed to higher mortgage rates and elevated home prices as the reason for the decline.
QC real estate an outlier
But in the Quad Cities region, Ms. Smith said it is a different story. “The 2025 housing market is starting off on a very positive note with increases in sold, pending and listed properties compared to January and February numbers of 2024."
QCAR’s data shows that between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28, 2025, the region had a total of 671 sold homes – 362 on the Iowa side and 309 across the river in Illinois. That compares to 570 total for the same period in 2024 – 312 in Iowa and 258 in Illinois.
In addition, the Quad Cities market’s pending properties with contracts reached 737 in the first two months this year, up from 720 a year ago.
The QCAR data primarily represents Quad Cities property transactions, she said, but it also can reflect sales outside the region if they are sold by Quad Cities-based Realtors.
In addition, Ms. Smith said properties are staying on the market a little longer, which is good news for buyers, who last year saw some properties sell as fast as one day.
In the same January to February period, properties were 50 days on market in 2025 and 36 in 2024.
The increased inventory also is aiding homebuyers by giving them a little more time to make a decision. “Though we still have a lot of multiple offers on properties,” she cautioned.
