The good news just keeps getting better if you are selling your home in Iowa. According to the Iowa Association of Realtors (IAR), sale prices and number of homes sold continue their upward trend. Sales increased almost 10 percent and average days on market reached a new 3 year low. Homes continue to sell at a fast pace in most communities. Days on market dropped to 69 in June, which is the fastest rate in over 3 years. That’s a 14.8 percent improvement from June of 2014.

Sales increased 9.7 percent from a year ago. 4,749 homes were sold last month as compared to 4,329 homes that sold in June 2014. Active listings were up 3.7 percent and Pending listings were up 7.6 percent when compared to last June. The IAR’s 2015 June Housing Trends Report shows the median sale price rose 6.0 percent. In June 2014 the median sale price was $143,900 while the median price last month was $152,500. The days on market of 77 days hit a new low when comparing second quarter performance of this year to the past eight years.

IAR President Jon Yocum said “The second quarter statistics demonstrate the strong housing market we have had in Iowa this year. In fact, the second quarter of 2015 shows a higher number of sold properties than we have had in the last eight years. We’ve had a 10 percent increase in sold properties when comparing to the second quarter of last year. Buyers are realizing that it is still a good time to buy with relatively low interest rates. Homeowners are hearing that homes are selling fast with low inventory levels. It is a great time for them to put their homes on the market.”

The Atlantic Police Department reports the arrest of five people over the past week. On Sunday, 32-year old Bryan Kirby, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Violation of Probation. And, 36-year old Michael Trotter, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Theft in the 5th Degree.

On Friday, Atlantic Police arrested 27-year old William Seffron, and 37-year old Richard D. Smith, both of Atlantic, were both arrested on a Cass County warrants for Violation of Probation.

And, on July 23rd, 49-year old Richard Lewis, of Atlantic, was arrested by Atlantic Police for Domestic Abuse Assault, 3rd or Subsequent offense. All five subjects were booked into the Cass County Jail.

Three people were arrested on drug charges over the weekend, in Mills County. The Sheriff’s Department reports Mathew Jessy Jo Davis, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Saturday night for Possession of Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug paraphernalia and Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drug. His bond was set at $2,600.

Sunday night, deputies in Mills County arrested 45-year old Mark Douglas Berggren, of Red Oak, for Possession of Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $1,300.  That same night, 39-year old Steven Wayne Thomson, of Harlan, was arrested for being a Felon in Possession of Firearm, Possession of Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bond was set at $6,300.

Hundreds of thousands of computer users in Iowa will see pop-ups on their screens soon, as Microsoft is releasing a free version of Windows 10 this week. Thor Schrock, a computer repair store owner in Omaha/Council Bluffs, says it you reserve a copy by Wednesday, the new operating system will be delivered automatically.

“Anybody who has a Windows 7 or a Windows 8 computer might be eligible for a free, as in no cost at all, update from Windows 7 or 8 up to Windows 10,” Schrock says. “Now, your computer’s hardware will have to be compatible. Almost every computer running Windows 8 will be compatible. Most computers running Windows 7 are also compatible.”

Computers that are compatible will get a pop-up window asking them if they want to upgrade. Having seen the new O-S, Schrock says it has several impressive features. “If you’re excited to get Windows 10, you should reserve the copy because you’ll be ‘among the first,'” he says. “They’ll release this in waves. The last time this happened, between Windows 8 to 8.1, some 20% of the computers that attempted to install 8.1 automatically ended up failing, they ended up crashing.”

According to Microsoft, those not wanting to upgrade now can purchase Windows 10 upgrades later at prices that range from $120 to $200, depending on the version. Also, there are a few wrinkles in the red carpet rollout. “You won’t get a pop-up if your computer is not compatible or if any device on your computer, like an old printer, is not compatible,” Schrock says. “Another thing to be aware of, if you’re using Office 2003 or Office 2007, neither one of those are compatible with Windows 10. You’ll have to buy a new copies of Office if you upgrade.”

One of the new features of Windows 10 is a personal digital assistant, called Cortana. It aims to rival “Siri” on iPhones. “Microsoft’s voice recognition blows Siri out of the water,” Schrock says. “When you figure, they’re going to leverage Cortana on over a billion devices next month, it’s going to have the opportunity to learn so much. It’s going to be Skynet before it’s done.”

That’s a reference to the popular “Terminator” movies, where Skynet was an artificial intelligence-driven computer system which eventually took over the world and tried to wipe out all of humankind. He’s kidding. Relax.

(Radio Iowa)