Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors Celebrates a Strong 2025

Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors celebrated 2025 at their annual awards event on January 30th. Chris Beason, President, and Caroline Ruhl, CEO, honored 215 award winners for their 2025 achievements. Over 300 agents, staff, and affiliated business partners cheered on their co-workers during the celebration. 

“2025 was a reminder that this business isn’t always easy, but the people in this company continue to show up and do hard things the right way,” said Chris Beason, President of Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, at the company’s annual awards event. “When you add together the experience of our agents and staff, it represents more than 3,500 years of combined experience. That depth matters. It’s what our clients feel when they work with us and the support our agents have behind them every day. Our success isn’t driven by a slogan. It’s driven by people who care about doing the right thing for their clients, their communities, and each other, no matter the market." 
 

Top awards were awarded to: 

Top Excellence in Service Award: Rachel Griffel, Burlington Office

Top Associate of the Year: Kurt Johnson, Bettendorf Office

Top Team of the Year: The Healey Group, Dubuque Office

Top New Associate of the Year: Kirk Thompson, Muscatine Office

Top Associate of the Year - Farm Division: Eric Schlutz, Muscatine Office

Extraordinary Production Award: Lacey Daedlow, Davenport Office

Top Ruhl Mortgage Associate of the Year: Ray McDevitt, Bettendorf Office

Top Nelson Brothers Associate of the Year: Kurt Johnson, Bettendorf Office

Top Community Involvement of the Year: Sara Carlson, Muscatine Office

Top Referral Staff Member: Misty Grady, Property Management, Corporate Office

Employee of the Year:  Dounia Sareini, Marketing Department, Corporate Office

There is a complete list of all award winners on Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors’ website at https://www.ruhlhomes.com/-News/ 

Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors 2025 Results

Caroline Ruhl shared with her team the company’s results in 2025, and

1. Residential Sales Volume – Ruhl&Ruhl’s sales volume in 2025 was $1,033,085,604, up 4% from 2024.
2. Number of Properties Sold – Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors sold 4,239 properties, as either listing agent or selling agent. This was 0.2% more transactions than in 2024.
3. Revenue – Revenue in a real estate company is primarily gross commission income (GCI). Ruhl’s 2025 GCI was $30,055,199, up 3.1% from 2024.
4. New Listings Taken – Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors listed 2,586 properties for sale in 2025, 3.7% more than in 2024.
5. Nationally Ranked Per Agent Productivity – On average, our agents closed 15.8 transactions in 2025, up from 15.3 sides per agent in 2024.
6. Great Agents and Staff – Ruhl&Ruhl ended 2025 with 268 residential agents. In addition, 58 employees work for the company. Midwest Referral, an affiliated company, has 116 agents who refer business to Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors.
7. Ruhl Property Management – Ruhl Property Management manages 280 properties (476 units) and 2 HOA’s (79 units). They acquired 163 new properties in 2025: 123 for property management and 40 for tenant placement. They executed 168 lease agreements and received 48 agent referrals for owners or tenants.
8. Ruhl Mortgage – Ruhl Mortgage closed $165,178,315 in loan volume, which was generated by 670 loans. 85% were purchase loans and 15% were refinances. Ruhl Mortgage employs 20 staff members, including 4 loan officers, 2 loan officer assistants, 2 in house underwriters, and 2 processors, plus other management and staff.
9. Nelson Brothers Agency – Ruhl&Ruhl agents referred clients, resulting in 427 policies being sold by the Nelson Brothers Agency, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors’ affiliated insurance company. Nelson Brothers Agency has 20 agent producers, 17 support staff, and 3 managers.
10. NAI Ruhl Commercial Company - NAI Ruhl Commercial Company, a joint venture with Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, sold $99,187,000 in commercial real estate in 2025. They have 15 commercial agents and 16 staff members. NAI Ruhl Commercial Property Management manages 1,488,264 square feet of space and 439 HOA units. They also have a full service Maintenance Division.

Regional Real Estate Forecast for 2026 

1. Homes Will Continue to Appreciate in Our Region 

Homes appreciated 2.99% on average in our markets from Q3 2024 to Q3 2025. We expect appreciation from 1% - 3% in 2026.

“Nationally, home prices will probably rise modestly in 2026…but the numbers are likely to be very different from state to state and market to market, with states in the South and West likely to see small price declines, while markets in the Midwest and Northeast will continue to see prices rise,” Rick Sharga, President and CEO, CJ Patrick Company.

2. Expect a Modest Decline in Mortgage Rates 

Rates are already down from a peak of 7% and an average rate of 6.6% in 2025. At the time we were writing this report, January 29, 2026, mortgage rates had fallen to their lowest level since December 2023:

• 15-Year Conventional Fixed ……... 5.125%
• 30-Year Conventional Fixed …...... 5.750% 
• FHA 30-Year Fixed ........................ 5.875%
• VA 30-Year Fixed .......................... 5.875%

Economists predict rates to hover around 6% all year, i.e., 5.9% - 6.4%. So this might be the best time to buy or refinance all year.

3. Affordability Will Improve Modestly

“We anticipate affordability will improve modestly, on average, in 2026. This results from our expectations of slightly lower interest rates, only modest increases in home prices, and a more balanced market than in recent years,” Jake Krimmel, Senior Economist, Realtor.com

Economists expect wages to grow faster than home prices in 2026. Combined with slightly lower mortgage rates, this will give buyers more purchasing power, “...helping to shrink the share of a paycheck that has to be put toward the mortgage. The monthly payment to buy the typical home is expected to slip to 29.3% of median income, its first year below the 30% affordability threshold since 2022…” Realtor.com

4. Existing Home Sales Will Increase Slightly 

Economists project existing home sales will increase 4% - 5% in 2026, compared to 2025. This will be triggered by improving affordability, bringing more demand back to the market.

“The housing market should settle into a healthier state in 2026, with buyers seeing a bit more breathing room and sellers benefiting from price stability and more consistent demand,” Zillow Research.

About Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors

A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors has grown to 268 sales associates, 58 employees, and 10 offices, selling nearly 4,200 homes in eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois, and southwest Wisconsin in 2025. The company has residential sales offices in Bettendorf, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Iowa City, and Muscatine, Iowa; and in Moline, Illinois. For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com.

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