The story of this market
The typical home in Story County, Iowa sells for about $298,304, or $215 per square foot.
Prices are up +2.8% from a year ago, so sellers still have some momentum. Over the long run, values in this county have grown 113% since 2000. Last year 16 of 23 neighborhoods saw prices rise, so the story isn't the same street to street. The biggest natural hazard here is winter weather, which FEMA rates relatively high. HUD's fair market rent for a two-bedroom is $1,061 a month.
HUD sets the fair market rent for a 2-bedroom at $1,061 a month. FEMA's National Risk Index rates overall hazard risk here as Very Low.
Price climate
Every year of price change, 2000–2025
+0.5%
2025
Each stripe is one year's median price change across the area's census tracts (FHFA repeat-sales index). Deep blue is a strong gain year, red a falling year. Best: 2023 (+10.2%). Worst: 2010 (-0.8%). Hover to read a year.
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
$1,469
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.
Neighborhood price trend
Long-run price trend, 2000–2025
+0.5%
2025 change
FHFA repeat-sales index, median of 23 census tracts in this county (2000 = 100). Bars are each year's median change.
Natural hazard exposure
The area's risk shape
34
Very Low
FEMA National Risk Index. Each spoke is a hazard ranked nationally, where 100 is the most exposed. Expected annual loss: $36,095,765.
Mortgage activity
Home lending in this county
88.5%
2018 approval rate
| Year | Applications | Loans made | Approval | Investor share | Median home value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2957 | 1986 | 88.5% | 11.3% | $195,000 |
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 Approval rate is approved ÷ decided (withdrawn and incomplete files excluded).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.
Story County, Iowa
Story County's housing market shows steady appreciation with home values rising approximately 2.8% year-over-year as of mid-2026. Inventory levels remain constrained, with 192 active listings reported in July 2026, supporting a competitive environment for buyers. The local economy remains stable with a low unemployment rate of 2.6%.
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 · 1 city · 1 ZIP report
Median prices moved up 0.5% year over year.
Homes spend a median of 37 days on market with 10.8 months of supply — a balanced-paced market.
0% of listings have cut prices · homes sell at 100% of asking — demand is running ahead of supply.
no recorded foreclosure-ledger notices (0.0 per 10,000 residents) · unemployment 2.6% · poverty 16.7% — 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 1 researched ZIP reports — 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.
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.
No researched ZIP reports yet — ZIP discovery runs with the county's first refresh, and each ZIP's intel report appears here once its research lands.
Census Reporter profile for Story County, IA
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
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
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
≈ $8,949/yr on a $298,304 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.