Des Moines, the capital of Iowa, is a city of approximately 210,000 inhabitants in central Iowa. The area includes suburbs such as West Des Moines and Clive, and the five-county metro area around Des Moines includes nearly 600,000 people.

The real estate market in Des Moines and surrounding areas is vibrant yet stable. We collected a sample of 3315 recent single-family home sales in the city of Des Moines and West Des Moines. The homes were divided among the two cities as follows:


     Des Moines West Des Moines 
           2801             514

This table demonstrates that Des Moines is a much bigger market than West Des Moines. On the other hand, West Des Moines is a younger market: the average age of a home in West Des Moines is 41, while the average age of a home in Des Moines is 69.

The following graphic shows even more detail concerning the relationship between Des Moines and West Des Moines: