Finding a Home

Finding a home in the Quad-Cities

Living and working in the Quad Cities offers some practical advantages. Our compact size and diverse, affordable housing stock earned us recognition as one of the nation's two or three most affordable housing markets in 2008. Local realtors celebrate the fact that the national housing crisis hasn't really hurt us, concluding "our residential real estate is still appreciating and home sales are still strong" (Ruhl& Ruhl, Spring 2008).

During the first quarter of 2008, there were 400 homes bought and sold in the Iowa Quad Cities at an average sales price of $164,000. In the Illinois Quad Cities, there were 370 homes bought at an average price of $114,500. The national average price for a house sold in the U.S. is just under $300,000. That price advantage is compounded by the fact that the U.S. Conference of Mayors named our own Dubuque, Iowa the "Most Liveable Small City in the U.S." (2008) and Forbes magazine rated us as having the fourth best cost-of-living.

The area’s two largest realtors both have very good search functions on their websites. These will allow you to get extensive, current information on various neighborhoods and the available housing stock. Those realtors are Ruhl and Ruhl and The Mel Foster Company. If you prefer to go it alone, a popular local housing site featuring homes for sale by owner is QCFSBO.

Housing Links

Ruhl and Ruhl
The Mel Foster Company
QCFSBO