Wisconsin home sales down, prices up in June

Economy fuels demand, but supply remains tight

A short supply of houses on the market led to a nearly 12% drop in June sales of existing homes in Wisconsin, but drove up prices, real estate professionals said Monday.

The Wisconsin Realtors Association reported 9,244 closed sales in June, down 11.8 percent from 10,481 in June of 2017. Sales dropped in all regions of the state, the Realtors monthly report shows.

Through the first half of the year, sales were off 3.7 percent from the same span in 2017.

“A strong economy and low mortgage rates have fueled demand, but supply remains tight,” Peter Sveum, chairman of the Wisconsin Realtors Association, said in a statement.

Sveum said the more-urbanized parts of the state had tighter inventory levels, while the more-rural areas “tended to be more buyer-friendly.”

The supply-and-demand imbalance put upward pressure on prices in June.

The median price of homes sold in Wisconsin last month was $195,000, or 5.4 percent more than $185,000 in June of 2017.

Through the first six months of 2018, the median home sale price was $180,000, a 5.9 percent rise from the January-through-June period last year.

“Not surprisingly, the tight inventory situation continues to push home prices up at a pace well above the rate of inflation,” said Michael Theo, president and chief executive of the Wisconsin Realtors Association.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has increased over the past year, to 4.57 percent from 3.90 percent in June of last year, the Realtors group noted. However, rates remain well below the levels during the 1990s and much of the 2000s.

“It’s not mortgage rates that are keeping sales down, it’s the limited number of homes on the market,” said Sveum.

The Realtors association said a review of homes sold at different price points during the past 12 months showed the tightest market in Wisconsin was for homes priced at $200,000 or less.