The story of this market
The typical home in Van Buren County, Iowa sells for about $114,600, or $72 per square foot.
Prices are up +2.1% from a year ago, so sellers still have some momentum. Homes take about 120 days to sell, which is slow. The biggest natural hazard here is lightning, which FEMA rates very high. HUD's fair market rent for a two-bedroom is $950 a month.
HUD sets the fair market rent for a 2-bedroom at $950 a month. FEMA's National Risk Index rates overall hazard risk here as Relatively High.
Monthly price momentum
Home values since 2015
+1.5%
IA · past 12 months
Freddie Mac House Price Index, single-family homes, monthly through 2026-08. Each line starts at 100 in January 2015, so a reading of 180 means prices are up 80% since then.
Rent benchmark
Fair market rent by size
$1,132
3-bed / month
HUD Fair Market Rents, fiscal 2027, for this county. A typical rent for a modest unit, used to set housing-voucher payments.
Natural hazard exposure
The area's risk shape
95
Relatively High
FEMA National Risk Index. Each spoke is a hazard ranked nationally, where 100 is the most exposed. Expected annual loss: $8,368,204.
Mortgage activity
Home lending in this county
69.1%
2018 approval rate
| Year | Applications | Loans made | Approval | Investor share | Median home value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 89 | 47 | 69.1% | 17.8% | $140,000 |
CFPB Home Mortgage Disclosure Act records: every mortgage application reported by lenders for homes in this county. Approval rate is approved ÷ decided (withdrawn and incomplete files excluded). Investor share and home value are the median census tract.
Van Buren County, Iowa
Van Buren County exhibits a stable, low-turnover housing market characterized by high affordability and a shrinking population base. Market activity is limited, with values driven by local demand rather than speculative growth. The inventory remains tight, typical of rural Iowa counties with limited new construction.
No ARED distress-ledger coverage for this county yet — the foreclosure ingest rotates the national county directory, and filings appear here once the county's posted notices are read. Key-figure check: no independent anchor retained yet — first-researched cycles establish the anchor baseline this pass.
Select a city to expand its ZIP intel reports beneath · 10 cities · 15 ZIP reports
Median prices moved up 14.4% year over year.
Homes spend a median of 64 days on market with 1.0 months of supply — a fast-moving market.
3% of listings have cut prices · homes sell at 34.6% of asking — demand is holding steady.
no recorded foreclosure-ledger notices (0.0 per 10,000 residents) · unemployment 4.1% · poverty 15.1% — a stable, low-distress profile.
ACS 2024 5-year estimates. Aggregate published statistics for this county — never individual records, and never an attribute of any individual property or resident.
Deterministic aggregate of 8 researched ZIP reports of 15 — sales_count-weighted (population fallback); per point, children lacking the value or its weight are excluded. Tax rates, sentiment and context notes are tier-native and never roll.
Van Buren County, Iowa — researched county-level history with a deterministic 1 / 3 / 5-year projection
Solid: researched ten-year history · dotted: 1 / 3 / 5-year projection extended from the historical 3.0%/yr trend — a deterministic estimate, not a published forecast or guarantee.
No researched properties in this county yet — the property base layer populates as property research runs, and each property feeds its ZIP's roll-up.
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| 52537 | Birmingham | $238,000 | $132 | +9% | 42 | 97.5% | 12.5% | 6.2 | 32 | $889 | researched Sep 27 |
| 52541 | — | $155,000 | $115 | -5.5% | 87 | 94% | 12% | 4.2 | 50 | $850 | researched Sep 27 |
| 52542 | Cantril | $107,000 | $82 | -5.5% | 71 | 94% | — | — | 100 | $758 | researched Sep 27 |
| 52551 | Douds | $243,876 | $118 | +6.1% | 82 | 97.5% | 15% | 6 | 12 | $850 | researched Sep 27 |
| 52552 | Drakesville | $350,000 | $145 | +16.7% | 22 | 100.1% | 12% | 1.6 | 89 | $847 | researched Sep 27 |
| 52565 | Keosauqua | $98,500 | $66 | — | 52 | — | — | — | — | $527 | researched Sep 27 |
| 52566 | Kirkville | $211,000 | $115 | +2.4% | 98 | 96.5% | 15% | 6.2 | 12 | $850 | researched Sep 27 |
| 52570 | Milton | $145,000 | $98 | +3.2% | 84 | 96.5% | 12.5% | 6 | 12 | $910 | researched Sep 27 |
| 52573 | Mount Sterling | $158,000 | $123 | — | 51 | — | — | — | — | $950 | researched Sep 27 |
| 52580 | Packwood | $164,252 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | $722 | researched Sep 27 |
Figures are each ZIP report's own latest research — the county roll-up aggregates them sales_count-weighted (population fallback); ZIPs cycle quarterly.
The county is primarily rural with flood risks associated with the Des Moines River corridor.
The economy is largely agricultural and historic-tourism based with limited new industrial development.
Property taxes are assessed by the county based on local millage rates; no state-level income tax linkage applies to residential property.
The area is known for the historic villages of the Des Moines River valley, offering outdoor recreation, trails, and historic sites.
The rental market is limited, primarily serving local residents with low vacancy pressure.
The economy is driven by agriculture, local government, and tourism centered on the historic villages.
Transportation is primarily via state highways; there is no significant public transit infrastructure.
The county assessor manages property valuations based on state-mandated assessment cycles.
Parcels are subject to county, school district, and local municipal tax levies.
Insurance premiums are influenced by rural fire protection coverage and flood zone designations near the river.
The amenity base that shapes daily life and property demand in this county — what residents actually live with, and what the pipeline is adding.
A central geographic feature providing recreation and historic significance.
The oldest continuously operational courthouse in Iowa.
Data retrieved from Census Reporter and MoverMath profiles.
Iowa generally requires judicial foreclosure proceedings. Borrowers are entitled to a notice of right to cure default prior to the initiation of foreclosure actions. Redemption rights exist post-sale unless specific statutory exceptions (such as foreclosure without redemption for nonagricultural land) are met.
Iowa Code Chapter 654
applies when — Property must be occupied as the owner's homestead
Provides legal protections for the homestead property, including specific exemptions from judicial sale for debts, as defined under state law.
Iowa Code Chapter 561
The taxable value is determined by applying an assessment limitation (rollback) to the assessed market value. The limitation is calculated annually to restrict the growth in aggregate taxable value for the residential class to 3% statewide.
Iowa Code Chapter 441; Iowa Department of Revenue Property Tax Overview
≈ $3,438/yr on a $114,600 median
Governance registry — every jurisdiction re-researches on a rolling 90-day cycle. Property reports compose these inherited burdens into a per-parcel ledger with conditional determinations. Informational only — not legal advice.