Cass County, Iowa Housing Market

Median Sale Price

$130,000

+48.6% YoY

Active Inventory

Days on Market

109 days

Price Drops

33.3%

Single-Family vs. Condo

Source: Redfin (property-type breakdown)

Single-Family Median

$125,000

-21.9% YoY

Condo / Co-op Median

$130,000

+15.0% YoY

SFR vs. Condo YoY Gap

-36.9%

condos outperforming SFR

DOM: SFR vs. Condo

107d / 208d

SFR / Condo

Buyer vs. Seller Market Indicators

Latest month — Redfin

Months of Supply

3.0 mo

Balanced

Inventory ÷ monthly sales. Below 3 = strong seller market; 3-6 balanced; above 6 = buyer market.

Sale-to-List Ratio

87.8%

Heavy price cuts

Median closing price ÷ original list price. Above 100% = homes routinely closing above asking.

% Sold Above List

15%

Buyer-favorable

Share of closed sales priced above asking. The single cleanest read on bidder competition.

What does your sqft target cost in Cass County, Iowa?

$85/sqft median (Redfin)

Square footage 2,000 sqft

Bedrooms +$0 adj

Bathrooms +$0 adj

Lot size optional

Estimated price

$170,907

Above median (+31% vs median)

Region median

$130,000

all homes

Price-tier reverse lookup — what sqft does each price band buy?

$600,000

≈ 7,021 sqft

$1,200,000

≈ 14,043 sqft

$2,000,000

≈ 23,405 sqft

$5,000,000

≈ 58,511 sqft

Estimate = (median $/sqft × your sqft) + bed/bath/lot adjustments. Bed and bath adjustments use Appraisal Institute / Fannie Mae standard rules of thumb (~$15K/extra bedroom, ~$20K/extra bathroom vs. a 3bd/2ba baseline; half-bath = half adj). Lot premium is a $1.50/sqft heuristic beyond a 6,000 sqft baseline — accuracy varies sharply by urban infill vs. acreage market. Quality, condition, year built, and HOA are not modeled here. For a deeper county-level hedonic AVM, see AVM Lite.

Rent + invest vs. buy + own — backtested

15-yr rolling history · S&P 500

Property type:

Home price

Monthly rent

Down %

Rate %

Property tax %

Insurance / yr

Maintenance %

HOA / mo

Home appreciation %

Rent inflation %

Horizon (yrs)

Invest in

After-tax mode (MID, SALT, LTCG, Sec 121) Show inflation-adjusted (real) side-by-side VA loan (0% down, no PMI, funding fee)

BUY + OWN

Median ending wealth $114K $70K real

Net gain on $30K upfront: $84K

Range: $114K → $114K

Wealth = home value (appreciated at 3%/yr) − remaining mortgage − 6% selling cost. Gain = wealth − upfront. Leveraged appreciation on full $130K asset comes from the 20% down.

RENT + INVEST

Median ending portfolio $129K $47K real

Net gain on $34K contributed: $95K

Range: $51K → $419K

Same upfront cash + each year's (own − rent) surplus invested in S&P 500 at actual annual returns. Median renter contributed $34K total.

Median wealth delta: $15K in favor of RENT + INVEST

What if you'd started in a recent year? (most-recent 15yr window: 2011–2025)

Window	Buy wealth	Buy gain	Rent wealth	Rent gain	Wealth delta
2011–2025	$114K	$84K	$211K	$177K	$97K rent
2010–2024	$114K	$84K	$217K	$183K	$103K rent
2009–2023	$114K	$84K	$219K	$185K	$105K rent
2008–2022	$114K	$84K	$112K	$78K	$2K buy
2007–2021	$114K	$84K	$142K	$108K	$28K rent
2006–2020	$114K	$84K	$125K	$91K	$11K rent
2005–2019	$114K	$84K	$109K	$75K	$5K buy
2004–2018	$114K	$84K	$91K	$57K	$23K buy

Educational tool, not investment or real-estate advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Backtests use actual annual total returns including dividends from S&P 500 (Damodaran (NYU Stern) annual total return (with dividends), 1957-present.).

Buyer model: 30-yr fixed mortgage, P&I + property tax + insurance + maintenance (1% of value/yr) + HOA. Selling cost = 6%. Investor model: down payment + annual cashflow surplus invested in the chosen index at that calendar year's actual return.

Tax model: pre-tax comparison. Toggle "after-tax mode" to apply MID, SALT, LTCG, and the Sec 121 capital-gains exclusion.

This calculator does not adjust for: PMI (assumed 20%+ down), differential transaction costs by state, lifestyle factors (commute, schools, kids), illiquidity / forced-sale risk, or insurance availability constraints (e.g., FL/CA wildfire). Consult a fiduciary advisor and tax professional before acting on any of this.

Market Pressure Signals

Derived from Redfin trend

Inventory vs. Long-Term Avg

+18.0%

surplus — buyer leverage

DOM vs. 24-Mo Avg

+38.4%

currently 109 days

Long-Term Avg Inventory

Long-Term Avg DOM

79 days

Mortgage & Price Stress

State HPI + national delinquency

State HPI YoY

+4.0%

positive — appreciating

State HPI vs. Peak

0.0%

at or near peak peak 2025-10-01

National Mortgage Delinquency

1.89%

benchmark — 2026-01-01 county-grain delinquency requires paid data

State-grain HPI YoY + drawdown from peak is the cleanest free price-stress proxy. The national delinquency rate gives the macro mortgage-stress backdrop. True county-level mortgage delinquency lives in paid datasets (MBA NDS, CoreLogic LP).

Value Ratios

Median home price ÷ county median income

Value / Income

2.1×

bargain

Median Household Income

$61,657

Census ACS B19013

Historically affordable markets sit at 3–4× income; over 5× is stretched, over 6× is severely overvalued. Lower ratios point to bargain opportunities.

Housing Stock & Owners

Census ACS 5-year (B19013, B01003, B25002, B25003, B25034, B25007)

Population

13,115

total residents

Total Housing Units

6,397

all units, occupied + vacant

Vacancy Rate

9.5%

tight

Homeownership Rate

72.3%

of occupied units owner-occupied

Boomer Owners (65+)

26.5%

of homeowner households

Millennial / Gen-X Owners (35-54)

8.8%

of homeowner households

Pre-1949 Housing Stock

45.3%

structures built before 1949

When boomer-owner share is high, expect more inventory hitting the market over the next decade as homes transition. High vacancy + high old-stock often signals deferred-maintenance markets where buyers can negotiate.

Net Migration (IRS Tax Returns)

IRS Statistics of Income — Migration Data

Net Migration

+21

gaining people (2022–2023)

Inbound Returns

135 people moved in

Outbound Returns

114 people moved out

Net Returns

+11

household-filer basis

Top 5 Origins (where movers came from)

Pottawattamie, Iowa — 39 returns
Montgomery, Iowa — 22 returns
Douglas, Nebraska — 22 returns

Top 5 Destinations (where movers went)

Pottawattamie, Iowa — 40 returns
Polk, Iowa — 32 returns

IRS Statistics of Income tracks county-to-county migration via tax-return change-of-address. Net migration uses the exemption count (a proxy for people, including dependents). True net flow can lag by 1–2 years vs. real-time movements.

Who's Moving In (Census ACS)

Source: Census ACS B07001 (5-year)

Inbound Movers (1 yr)

386

2.96% of pop. — moved here from outside the county

From Other States

171

1.31% of pop. — interstate inbound

From Abroad

moved into the county from outside the U.S.

Same House 1 Year Ago

90%

stable residents

Census ACS asks where people lived 1 year ago, so this counts inbound movers but does not show outbound — true net migration would require IRS SOI parsing.

Trends

Up to 5 years of monthly data

Median Sale Price

Trailing 12 months

Active Inventory

Trailing 12 months

Days on Market

Trailing 12 months

Looking for state-level data? See Iowa statewide stats →

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