Record home sales

Sales of existing homes in the state set a record for the third straight year.

Sales of existing homes in the state rose 1.4% in 2017, driven by a strong economy and hampered only by a limited number of houses on the market, the Wisconsin Realtors Association said Monday.

It was the third consecutive year of record sales in the state, with 83,006 closings in 2017, up from 81,831 in 2016, the Realtors organization said.

The demand for housing pushed the median sale price higher. It rose 5.5% last year to $174,000 compared with $164,900 in 2016.

“Given our extremely low inventory levels throughout the year, hitting a new record high in sales shows just how hot Wisconsin’s housing market really was in 2017,” Peter Sveum, chairman of the Wisconsin Realtors Association board, said in a statement.

Job growth and continued low mortgage interest rates helped fuel the good year for home sales, he said.

The Wisconsin unemployment rate in December was 3%, down 1.1% from the same time a year earlier. Interest rates have remained around 4% for a 30year fixed-rate mortgage.

Michael Theo, president and chief executive of the state Realtors organization, said sales would have been higher if there were more houses on the market. “This translates into excess demand for homes, which means homes are selling quickly,” Theo said.

Statewide, homes sold on average in about 80 days on the market, compared with an average of 99 days at the end of 2016. They sold even faster in many metro Milwaukee communities.

The record year came despite a decrease in December sales of existing homes. Sales declined 3.3% in December from the same month in 2016, to 5,538 from 5,727. However, the median price of homes sold in December gained 6.5%, at $170,420 from $160,000 in December 2016.

For the year, the highest median home price in the state was in Waukesha County, at $277,000, which was 5.7% higher than in 2016. Next was Ozaukee County, at $276,450, and Dane County, $262,900.

The lowest median price last year was in Langlade County, at $92,500, which was up from $89,950 in 2016, according to the Realtors report.