Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Industry experts report that Iowa saw a more than 20 percent increase in foreclosure rates this summer, and that the state experienced a significant overall decline in home sales. But it isn’t all bad news.
During the month of July, the RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, indicated that 601 Iowa properties had foreclosure filings. Although the change was only a 7 percent increase from June, it was a 21 percent increase from the same time during 2008.
Statewide the number of home sales during the month of August dropped 17.3 percent from the same month during 2008, according to the Iowa Association of Realtors. The agency reports that 2,981 homes were sold across Iowa in August, while 3,606 were sold during the same month the previous year. That being said, there were also 3,190 pending sales reported for the month, a typically lop-sided trend for summer and one the agency believes is related to new federal regulations regarding sales.
“We expect to see many of these pending sales reported as sold within the next 30 to 60 days,” said Terry Knapp, president of the Iowa Association, adding that he expects to see a significant rise in activity before the First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit incentive ends on Nov. 30.
Pockets of the most increased foreclosure activity in the state continue to be centered in urban areas with larger populations. More than 80 percent of all the state’s foreclosures were concentrated in six counties: Polk, Linn, Scott, Pottawattamie, Dallas and Woodbury. In Polk County one in every 644 housing units had foreclosure activity — more than 3.4 times the state average. Linn County had a rate of one foreclosure for every 1,119 properties (twice the state average), and Scott County’s rate was one foreclosure for every 1,192 properties (almost twice the state average).
Although the percentage increase from 2008 is significant for Iowa, the state continues to represent less than 1 percent of the foreclosure filings throughout the nation. Total U.S. activity rose nearly 7 percent from June to July, and was more than 32 percent higher than one year ago. During the month, one in every 355 housing units in the nation received a foreclosure filing.
The Iowa Association of Realtors also reports that home listings increased 10 percent from last year, and that prices have remained steady. The average number of days a property is on the market prior to being sold has also slowly decreased, a good indicator that the market is recovering. Although the list price to sale price ratio for properties had dipped to below 94 percent last winter, it now stands at 95.8 percent, an indication that more sellers are listing their properties realistically.
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