April home sales increased 3.7% in Milwaukee area
In a housing market that remains hot despite a shortage of properties for sale, April closings on existing homes rose 3.7 percent in metropolitan Milwaukee.
The regional increase in sales came even though sales dipped slightly in Waukesha and Washington counties for the month, a report issued Friday by the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors shows.
Overall in the four-county area, which also includes Milwaukee and Ozaukee counties, there were 1,843 homes sold in April. That was 66 more than in April 2017, when there were 1,777 closings.
The only better April sales months this century were in 2005 and 2016, with 1,867 and 1,853, respectively.
“The metropolitan area has enjoyed a strong sales market since the beginning of 2015,” Mike Ruzicka, president of the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors, said in his monthly report. “The influx of first-time buyers — accounting for approximately 40 percent of the market — historically low interest rates, and a strong regional job market all provide fuel for a hot market.”
Ruzicka said many brokers expected that as prices have risen in a high-demand residential real estate market, more homeowners would list their house or condo for sale in the peak March-through-July selling season. So far, that hasn’t happened.
“Buyers are out in force, but the availability of homes for sale is creating a bottleneck,” Ruzicka said.
The April report by the local Realtors organization doesn’t include price. However, through March, the average sale price was up in all four counties: Milwaukee County, $170,836, up 6 percent from $161,224 in March 2017; Waukesha, $306,179, up 4.8 percent from $292,266; Washington County, $261,067, up 14.6 percent from $227,881; and Ozaukee County, $342,235, up 17.1 percent from $292,154.
The biggest percentage jump in year-over-year April sales was seen in Ozaukee County, where sales rose 10.2 percent to 119 from 108. Milwaukee County posted an 8.3 percent sales gain for April, at 1,060 from 979. Sales declined 6.8 percent in Washington County, to 164 from 176, and 2.7 percent in Waukesha County, to 500 from 514.