The Federal Housing Finance Agency published the 2025 Q3 Housing Price Index report, and national data show home prices rose 2.3 percent between the third quarter of 2024 and the third quarter of 2025. Nationally, the U.S. housing market has experienced positive annual appreciation each quarter since the start of 2012.
The five-year home appreciation in our region was between 39.52% and 46.67%, with all of our regional Metropolitan Statistical Areas experiencing positive gains.
In the past year, home prices in our markets have increased: 2.61% in Cedar Rapids, 2.74% in the Quad Cities, 5.65% in Dubuque*, 5.06% in Iowa City*, and 0.75% in Waterloo-Cedar Falls*. This compares to other cities: Des Moines, 1.12%, and Chicago, 6.00%. Appreciation varies by location and price range, with more affordable homes often seeing stronger gains due to higher demand and tighter supply, while higher-end properties tend to appreciate at a slower pace.
Information courtesy of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) for the third quarter of 2025. FHFA stats always run one-quarter behind. Their full report is available at www.fhfa.gov.
* Iowa City, Dubuque, and Waterloo-Cedar Falls MSAs did not meet FHFA’s criteria for inclusion in their published summary table because they had fewer than 1,000 total transactions. However, we have provided these values using the FHFA’s Home Price Index (HPI) Calculator, available at fhfa.gov/data/hpi/datasets?tab=hpi-calculator. These figures are based on FHFA’s data and methodology but were manually calculated for inclusion in this report.
“Home prices across our region continued to rise in 2025, but at a measured and sustainable pace,” said Chris Beason, President of Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors. “While national headlines often highlight volatility, our markets tend to stay more steady. Well-priced homes are still selling quickly, and supply and demand are back in a more normal range. That stability puts our region in a strong position heading into 2026.”
About Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors
A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors has grown to 268 sales associates, 58 employees, and 10 offices, selling nearly 4,200 homes in eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois, and southwest Wisconsin. The company has residential sales offices in Bettendorf, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Iowa City, and Muscatine, Iowa; and in Moline, Illinois. For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com.
