Real Estate Reporter

The Des Moines Register/desmoinesregister.com, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, is seeking an experienced reporter to produce consumer-oriented enterprise and watchdog work focused on central Iowa’s real estate market. The Des Moines area is the Midwest’s fastest-growing large metro, according to the latest census. Home prices have appreciated rapidly in the past few years, and the downtown has seen an apartment and condo boom. Consumers have an almost insatiable appetite for news about where the real estate market is heading and what kind of home they can move into at different rent or mortgage price points. This reporter will write about trends in pricing and housing availability for people of all income levels, from affordable housing to luxury homes. This job requires an experienced reporter with data analysis skills who can develop exclusive enterprise such as home appreciation by neighborhood. It requires the ability to digest complex subjects for our audience and to juggle occasional daily stories with quick-turn and long-term enterprise. The ideal candidate will have relentless curiosity about all things housing, from a fun feature (a recent story featured a high-end home with a circular slide between floors instead of stairs) to an investigation into potentially unsafe construction.