October home sales, prices rise in state
October sales of existing homes in Wisconsin rose, but a shortage of properties on the market in the state’s metro areas continues to temper sales this year and is pushing up prices, industry professionals said.
A report Monday by the Wisconsin Realtors Association shows state home sales last month were up 4.9% from October 2016, to 7,290 from 6,952. But through the first 10 months of 2017, overall sales in Wisconsin
had increased only 1.1%, to 70,841 from 70,101 in 2016.
The median price on sales in October was 6.1% higher — to $175,000 from $165,000 — than in the same month last year. Through October, the median price for sales in Wisconsin was $174,000, compared with $165,000 in the same period in 2016, an increase of 5.5%.
“It’s been a consistent story all year, with the tight supply of homes on the market keeping sales relatively flat, but we broke out of that pattern somewhat in October with sales growing nearly 5% statewide,” Peter Sveum, chairman of the Wisconsin Realtors Association board, said in the report. “It helps that we are entering a seasonal slowdown in sales, so demand pressures will moderate.”
Through the first 10 months of the year, sales were up less than 1% in three of six regions in the state, and down almost 1% in one — the South Central area that includes Dane, Jefferson and Rock counties, among other counties.
“This is an inventory problem, plain and simple,” Sveum said, noting that the highest percentage sales increases have been in the areas where the number of homes on the market isn’t an issue.
“You can’t expect much price relief when you have strong demand and weak supply, but one positive signal was the improvement in new listings,” said Michael Theo, president and chief executive the Wisconsin Realtors Association.
The number of new homes listed for sale rose 4.1% in October, compared with October 2016.
“It’s good to see improvement on the listings front, and hopefully it continues into the spring,” said Theo.
In the metro Milwaukee area — Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties — sales were up 0.9% through October, while prices had increased 6% compared with the same span in 2016.